Glass_6 blQ 8 
Book N<c7 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 

BULLETIN 55 



ETHNOBOTANY OF THE 
TEWA INDIANS 

BY 

WILFRED WILLIAM ROBBINS 
JOHN PEABODY HARRINGTON 

AND 

BARBARA FREIRE-MARRECO 




WASHINGTON 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1916 



0* 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 



The School of American Archeology, 

Santa Fe, N. Mex., November 1, 1912. 
Dear Sir: I herewith transmit the manuscript and illustrations 
of a paper entitled "Ethnobotany of the Tewa Indians/' by Wilfred 
W. Robbins, John P. Harrington, and Barbara Freire-Marreco. I 
am authorized by the managing committee of the School of American 
Archaeology to offer this work for publication by the Bureau of 
American Ethnology as a part of the results of the cooperative work 
of our respective institutions during 1910 and 1911. 
I am, very truly, yours, 

Edgar L. Hewett, 

Director. 

Mr. F. W. Hodge, 

Ethnologist-in- Charge, 

Bureau of American Ethnology, 

Washington, B.C. 



in 



LETTER OE SUBMITTAL 



Smithsonian Institution, 
Bureau of American Ethnology, 

November 8, 1912. 
Sir: I have the honor to submit a paper on the "Ethnobotany of 
the Tewa Indians," by Wilfred W. Bobbins, John P. Harrington, and 
Barbara Freire-Marreco, which forms a part of the results of the 
ethnological and archeological research in the upper Bio Grande Val- 
ley of New Mexico, undertaken jointly by the Bureau of American 
Ethnology and the School of American Archaeology in 1910 and 
1911. It is recommended that the paper be published as a bulletin 
of this bureau. 

Very respectfully, 

F. W. Hodge, 
Ethnologist-in- Oh arge. 

Honorable Charles D. Walcott, 
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 

v 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Phonetic key xi 

Introduction . 1 

Scope of ethnobotany 1 

Ethnobotanical field work 2 

Collection and preparation of botanical specimens 4 

Previous ethnobotanical studies 5 

Tewa concepts of plant life 7 

Functions of plant parts 7 

Classification of plants 8 

Discrimination 9 

Plant names of the Tewa 10 

Character of plant names 10 

Non-compounded Tewa plant names 10 

Unetymologizable plant names of native origin 10 

Plant names of Spanish origin that have no common equivalents of Tewa 

origin . 11 

Parts and properties of plants 12 

Flowers, their parts and functions. . 12 

Inflorescence 14 

Seeds and fruits, their parts and functions 15 

Leaves, their parts and functions 19 

Leaves in general 19 

Size and shape of leaves 19 

Compound leaves ' 20 

Surface of leaves 20 

Margin of leaves 21 

Tendril 21 

Stalk, trunk, stump, stem, branch, twig, joint 21 

Root... ^ 23 

Leaf -sheath 23 

Wood, pith 23 

Fiber 24 

Juice 24 

Gum 24 

Bark : 24 

Hair, spine, thorn 25 

Growth of plants 26 

Habits of growth 26 

Dense growth, forest, grove 27 

Condition of plants 28 

Worms, gall-balls 28 

Chemically changed vegetal matter 28 

VII 



VIII 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Color of plants 30 

Light, darkness, color, painting, lines, spots 30 

Color adjectives 31 

Color-adjective compounds 32 

Color-adjective modifiers 33 

Other qualities of plants 34 

Size : 34 

Taste 35 

Odor 36 

Feeling 36 

Wetness and dryness 37 

Annotated list of plants 38 

I. Indigenous wild plants 38 

Trees 38 

Shrubs ..J.. 44 

Herbs 53 

Cacti - 62 

Vines ; 63 

Gourds 63 

Grasses and grasslike plants 63 

Fungi 66 

Ferns 67 

Mosses and lichens 68 

Scouring rushes 68 

Wild plants from outside the Tewa country 68 

Wild plants not satisfactorily identified 69 

II. Cultivated plants 76 

Indigenous plants 76 

The Tewa economy 76 

Plants cultivated by the Tewa before the Spanish conquest 78 

Introduced food plants 107 

Introduced food plants cultivated by the Tewa 107 

Introduced food plants not generally cultivated by the Tewa 112 

Introduced forage plant 113 

Introduced fruits 113 

Introduced fruits commonly cultivated by the Tewa 114 

Introduced fruits not generally cultivated by the Tewa 115 

Nuts 116 

Indigenous nuts 116 

Imported nuts 117 

Foreign plants known only as commercial products 117 

Bibliography 

Index of botanical names 121 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Page 

Plate 1. a. View near Santa Fe, New Mexico, showing the general appearance 

of country dominated by a growth of pinon pine and cedar 1 

b. Canyon of El Rito de los Frijoles, showing streamside deciduous 

forest 1 

2. a. Aspen grove at the edge of grassland area in the Valle Grande ... 39 
b. Rock pine forest of mesa top .' 39 

3. a. An eastern slope at the crest of the Jemez Mountains 48 

6. Valle Grande, showing where grassland gives way to spruce and 

aspen on the slopes 48 

4. a. Canyon of El Rito de los Frijoles, showing streamside forest and 

numerous rabbit-brush shrubs (Chrysothamnus bigelovii) in the 

foreground on talus slope 56 

b. Plumed arroyo shrub (Fallugia paradoxa) in arroyo in Canyon of 

El Rito de los Frijoles 56 

5. a. Four-o'clock (Quamoclidion multinorum) 64 

b. Datura meteloides, a large and conspicuous plant of stream ter- 
races and talus slopes 64 

6. a. Ball cactus (Mamillaria sp.) 75 

b. Prickly pear (Opuntia camanchica) 75 

7. a. Saltbush (Atriplex canescens), a shrub several feet high in the 

canyons on talus slopes and stream terraces 83 

b. Wild squash (Cucurbita fcetidissima), a trailing form in canyons.. 83 

8. a. Chandelier cactus; Cane cactus; "Candelabra;" "Entrana" 

(Opuntia arborescens) 92 

b. Rabbit-brush (Chrysothamnus bigelovii) 92 

9. Archaeological map of Jemez Plateau (Forest Service map) 118 

Figure 1. Fruit of box-elder 15 

2. Santa Clara bow 39 

3. Mountain mahogany 46 

4. Rocky Mountain bee plant 58 

5. Grama grass 65 

6. Corn plant 80 

7. Gourd rattles 101 



IX 



PHONETIC KEY 



1. Orinasal vowels, pronounced witli moutii and nose passages 
open: a (Eng. father, but orinasal), a (French pas, but orinasal), 
o (moderately close o, orinasal), u (Eng. rule, but orinasal), x (Eng. 
man, but orinasal), e (moderately close e, orinasal), i (Eng. routine, 
but orinasal). 

2. Oral vowels, pronounced with, mouth passage open and nose 
passage closed by the velum: a (Eng. father), o (moderately close o), 
u (Eng. rule), e (moderately close e), i (Eng. routine). 

Very short vowels following the glottid (') are written superior. 
Thus, Ya ,a , wild rose. A slight aspiration is heard after a vowel fol- 
lowed by qw, Jc, Jew, ¥, s, f, t, tf, ts, tf, p, p\ Thus, toHu, kernel of 
a nut, written totu in this memoir. 

3. Laryngeal consonants: li (Eng. house), ' (glottid or glottal 
elusive, produced by closing and suddenly opening the glottis). 

4. Velar consonants: w (Eng. .water), qw (Span, juez; Ger. acft 
labialized), Jc (unaspirated, Span, carro), lew (unaspirated, Span. 
cu&l), Jc (glottalized), ¥ (aspirated, Eng. cookhouse), g (levis, Span, 
abotfado), g (preplosively nasal, Eng. fmger), y (nasal, Eng. si^ t aer), 
yw (nasal labialized, Eng. Lanaworthy; variant of Tewa w). 

In absolute auslaut and before Ji and ? , y is somewhat palatal. 
Before palatal consonants y is assimilated to n or n, before frontal 
consonants to n, before labial consonants to m. 

5. Palatal consonants: j (Ger. /a), n (Span, maflana). 
In the Hano dialect a tf or palatal t occurs. 

6. Frontal consonants: s (Eng. .sin), / (Eng. ship; £ is the capital 
of ,/), t (unaspirated, Span, te), i (glottalized), tf (aspirated, Eng. 
swea^ouse), ts (consonant diphthong, Ger. ze\m, but not followed 
by an aspiration), tf (consonant diphthong, Eng. chew, but not fol- 
lowed by an aspiration), fs (glottalized), if (glottalized), d (levis d, 
more r-like than in Span, abogao'o), d (preplosively nasal, Eng. 
cinder), n (nasal, Eng. now). 

The sound of Z occurs in Rio Grande Tewa only in words of foreign 
origin and in the San Ildef onso word polamimi, butterfly ; but it is 
common in Hano Tewa. 

7. Labial consonants: p (unaspirated, Span. £>adre), p (glottalized), 
p (aspirated, Eng. scaLp/^ouse), ft (levis, Span, a&ogado), b (pre- 
plosively nasal, Eng. lamoent), m (nasal, Eng. man). 

XI 



xn 



PHONETIC KEY 



A grave accent over a vowel indicates falling tone and weak stress. 
Thus, Sate, Athapascan, approximately rhymes with and has accent 
of Span. sabe. Where practicable for distinguishing two words, vowel 
length is indicated by the macron. Thus *6ku v hill, but 'dlcu, turtle. 

Phonetic Spelling of Non-Tewa Words 

Vowels: d (French pas), y, (unrounded u), a (French patte), a 
(French patte, but orinasal). The acute accent over a vowel indi- 
cates loud stress. Surdness is indicated by a circle beneath a vowel. 

Consonants: * (aspiration), g, d, h (as in Eng.), I (surd Z), f 
(bilabial /). 







Laryn- 
geal 


Velars 


Palatals 


Frontal s 


Labials 


Consonants Vowels 


Orinasal 




q 

q 

as 

O Q 

u | 






Oral 




a 

o e 
u i 






Semivowels 
Fricatives 

Fricatives labialized 
Clusives 

Clusives labialized 
Clusives glottalized 
Clusives aspirated 
Affricatives 
Affricatives glottalized 
Clusives levis 
Clusives preplosively nasal 
Nasals 

Nasals labialized 


I 


W 

qw 
Tc 

lew 
¥ 

U 
I 
V 

yw 


j 

itf) 

n 


«, / ® 
t 

t 

£ 

ts if 

ts ff 
d 
d 
n 


V 

V 
V 

b 

m 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 55 PLATE 1 




B. CANYON OF EL RITO DE LOS FRIJOLES, SHOWING STREAMSIDE DECIDUOUS FOREST; BETWEEN 
THIS AND THE STEEP MESA SIDE ON A NARROW STREAM TERRACE IS SEEN A GROWTH OF 
TALL ROCK PINE. 



ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 



By Wilfred W. Robbins, John P. Harrington, and Barbara 
Freire-Marreco 1 

INTRODUCTION 
Scope of Ethnobotany 

ETHNOBOTANY is virtually a new field of research, a field which, 
if investigated thoroughly and systematically, will yield results 
of great value to the ethnologist and incidentally also to the botanist. 
Ethnobotany is a science, consequently scientific methods of study 
and investigation must be adopted and adhered to as strictly as in any 
of the older divisions of scientific work. It is a comparatively easy 
matter for one to collect plants, to procure their names from the 
Indians, then to send the plants to a botanist for determination, and 
ultimately to formulate a list of plants and their accompanying Indian 
names, with some notes regarding their medicinal and other uses. 
Ethnobotanical investigation deserves to be taken more seriously: it 
should yield more information than this; it should strike deeper into 
the thoughts and life of the people studied. If we are to learn more 
of primitive peoples, we must attempt to gain from them their con- 
ceptions not of a part but of the entire environment. Ethnobotany 
is a special line of ethnologic investigation, the results of which must 
receive consideration in our ultimate analysis. 

Ethnobotanical research is concerned with several important ques- 
tions: (a) What are primitive ideas and conceptions of plant life? 
(b) What are the effects of a given plant environment on the lives, 
customs, religion, thoughts, and everyday practical affairs of the 

i The earlier, larger, and more systematic part of this memoir is the work of the two authors first 
named on the title-page, Mr. Wilfred W. Robbins and Mr. John P. Harrington. Their methods of 
investigation and collaboration are explained in the Introduction. 

When the memoir, in its original scope and form, was in type, it was thought advisable to enlarge it 
by including notes on some of the economic, industrial, and medicinal uses of the plants, made by the 
third author, Miss Barbara Freire-Marreco, in the course of work supported by the Research Fellowship 
fund of Somerville College, Oxford, England, and by the late Miss Mary Ewart's trustees, as well as 
many additional plant-names. It was thought well also to add, for the sake of comparison, information 
gained from the Tewa colony settled since the end of the seventeenth century among the Hopi at Hano, 
Arizona, although the winter season had made it difficult to learn much of the plant environment. Mr. 
Harrington is not responsible for the form of the Tewa words recorded at Hano, nor Mr. Robbins for the 
tentative identifications of the plants obtained or described there; Mr. Harrington and Mr. Robbins are 
alone responsible for the views expressed in pages 1 to 75; and Miss Freire-Marreco for those contained 
in pages 76 to 118. 

1 



2 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



people studied ? (c) What use do they make of the plants about them 
for food, for medicine, for material culture, for ceremonial purposes ? 
(d) What is the extent of their knowledge of the parts, functions, 
and activities of plants ? (e) Into what categories are plant names 
and words that deal with plants grouped in the language of the people 
studied, and what can be learned concerning the working of the folk- 
mmd by the study of these names ? 

Ethnobotany will become a more important subject when its study 
has progressed to a point where results can be studied comparatively. 
The ethnobotany of one tribe should be compared with similar studies 
of other tribes. And in such comparative work there arises the neces- 
sity for a standard in the quality of and in the manner of conducting 
the several investigations. Conceptions of plant life differ among 
different peoples: a particular plant here does not react in the same 
way upon one people as it does upon another; it has a different name 
and probably a different usage; while different ideas are held con- 
cerning it. Furthermore, we encounter different vegetal environ- 
ments as we pass from tribe to tribe. Attempt should ultimately be 
made to investigate the causes and extent of these variations. 

Ethnobotanical Field Work 

The method of conducting ethnobotanical researches is of consider- 
able importance, and the value of results obtained may be judged in 
great measure by the methods pursued in obtaining them. A prime 
necessity is a good native informant ; indeed it is better to have several 
informants, preferably older men or women. The reasons for select- 
ing the older persons as informants are obvious : they have greater 
knowledge concerning aboriginal things than have younger persons; 
they are less inclined to regard the work lightly and to attempt to give 
wrong and misleading answers ; they are steadier, and above all they 
are able to give, as a result of their maturer years and greater experience, 
more trustworthy information. The writers found a distinct advan- 
tage in taking with them into the field several old Indians : time was 
saved; questions were answered more readily; furthermore, they 
frequently discussed the point in question among themselves, thus 
arriving at conclusions and bringing out facts that one individual 
could not. It is also true that several Indians together usually feel 
less restraint in answering freely such questions as are asked than 
would one in the presence of one or more questioners. As a means" of 
checking the accuracy of information obtained it is also well to work 
with different individuals or groups of individuals separately, and to 
compare the results. Questions asked should not suggest the answers. 
Questioning should be systematic, yet so conducted as not to weary or 
offend the informants. It is well to intersperse the questioning with 
jokes and light conversation. The Indian language should be used as 



fSSm5^?o GTON> ] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 3 

largely as possible masking the questions and in recording the informa- 
tion. The reasons for this are that the Indian words are largely not 
susceptible of exact translation, and the use of a foreign language is 
apt to modify and render un-Indian the conceptions of the informants. 

In the present work the writers took with them into the field three 
old Indians, one of whom could speak fairly good English. The 
services of this individual were of considerable value; it is very 
desirable that the services of such an informant be enlisted if possible. 
Although not absolutely essential, it is probably true that the best 
ethnobotanical work can be done by the close cooperation of a 
botanist with an ethnologist and linguist experienced in the methods 
of recording Indian languages, the scientific recording of which is by 
no means an easy task. With then informants the two should go 
into the field together. It is essential that investigation be done in 
the field with growing plant life; showing fragments of plants 
picked up here and there, or even herbarium specimens, to the 
informants is far less satisfactory. The botanist will relieve his 
co-worker of collecting and preserving the plant material; the latter 
can thus better concentrate his efforts on obtaining the ethnologic 
information. Furthermore, it is natural that questions of botanical 
interest will occur to the botanist that would not occur to the linguist. 
Once in the field, the Indians are shown growing plants and are 
questioned fully about each, the smaller as well as the larger and 
more conspicuous forms. The nature of the questions will depend 
somewhat on the plant. In the present work the questions were 
framed so as to elicit the following facts about each plant: Indian 
name; etymology of name; uses of various parts, and methods of 
preparing them for use; names of the parts of plants, even the most 
inconspicuous ; descriptive terms applied to this or that shape of 
leaf, kind of bark, stem, etc., and the extension of these terms in 
describing non-botanical phenomena; native ideas of the relation of 
the use of the different structures to the plant itself; and the lore 
connected with the plant. 

It is needless to say that field notes should be made complete in 
the field; it is unsafe to depend on one's memory and attempt to 
record certain information after reaching camp, It is well not to 
hasten from plant to plant: the informants should be given abun- 
dant time to think over and discuss points among themselves. 

It is often of advantage to photograph some of the more striking 
and important plants, showing their habitat and general appear- 
ance. Drawings of plants may be used to supplement photographs. 
In addition, native representations of plants can often be obtained, 
notably in the form of designs of pottery, basketry, from petro- 
glyphs, etc. An attempt should be made to identify these, as 
they are important in indicating the Indian conception of various 
plants. 



4 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



Collection and Preparation of Botanical Specimens 

In any case, even if the plant be well known, specimens should 
be collected. These, prepared in the manner to be discussed, make 
valuable specimens for the ethnological museum. In view of the 
fact that many individuals doing ethnobotanical work may not be 
familiar with the proper methods of pressing and handling plants, 
the following suggestions are made rather explicit and detailed. 
The necessity for this is suggested by the experience of the writers, 
who have known such collections to consist of a few dried, shriveled, 
and undeterminable fragments of plants. 

A portable plant-press is recommended for use in coUecting. The 
collector will supply himself with sheets of thin, cheap paper (news- 
papers will serve the purpose), cut to the size of the press; these are 
used to separate the specimens as collected. The specimens should 
be large, including, if possible, underground parts, flowers, and fruit. 
As collected the specimens are temporarily placed between the sheets 
of paper in the plant-press. Special driers made for pressing plants 
are highly desirable; these are of soft, felt-like material and are very 
durable; two hundred will be sufficient for collections of ordinary 
size. The material collected should either be numbered (the num- 
bers referring to data in the field book) or the related data should be 
included with each specimen. In addition to the information 
obtained from the Indians, each plant should bear the following data: 
locahty collected, date collected, name of collector. The specimens 
brought from the field are immediately put into driers ; if not pressed 
while fresh the plants will lose their color and will mold. Each plant is 
placed between two sheets of paper and two or more driers. The 
stack of plants, papers, and driers is weighted down with a heavy 
stone, and all is kept in a dry place. Driers should be changed at 
least once every 24 hours; the wet driers are placed in a sunny place 
to dry; plants should dry within four or five days. 

Whenever possible, information about plants should be obtained 
from the Indian from the growing plant, as he is thus accustomed to 
see and know it or to gather it for use. It is sometimes important 
that the plant be examined by the informant in its natural environ- 
ment, since it has been learned by experience that plants removed 
from the places in which they grew tend to confuse the informant and 
are. identified by him only with considerable difficulty and uncer- 
tainty. 

Probably the best way to exhibit ethnobotanical specimens in the 
museum is in such mounts as the "Riker specimen mounts," by 
which the material may be displayed in an attractive, instructive, 
mid permanent form. These mounts, made in various sizes, are 
provided with glass covers; the specimens are arranged on a back- 



^f^' S ^fd R ^ GTON 'l ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 5 

ground of raw cotton and held in place by pressure of the glass front. 
They are particularly useful in that they admit of grouping, under 
a glass cover in one frame, specimens that are to be associated in 
the mind of the observer. In each mount should be placed the 
plant specimen, with portions of products, if any, made from it, and 
all other material of ethnological interest. This method of exhib- 
iting ethnobotanical specimens is recommended as being the most 
attractive and instructive, at the same time eliminating the danger of 
destruction of the exhibited material. 

Another method of exhibiting ethnobotanical specimens is to 
mount them on heavy paper; such paper is specially prepared for 
the purpose. Each specimen is fastened to a sheet of the mounting 
paper by narrow strips of gummed paper; gummed Chinese linen 
paper may be obtained in sheets or in strips cut in varying lengths 
and widths. A label bearing the data desired is then pasted at one 
corner of the sheet, when the specimen is ready for exhibition. The 
content of the label is a matter of some consequence. It should 
include the scientific name of the plant, the common name, the 
Indian name with etymology, the locality and the date collected, the 
name of the collector, and brief mention of special points of interest 
connected with it. 

The ethnologist who is collecting his own material should take 
pains to collect large specimens with all the parts present if possible 
in order that the botanist to whom they are sent may readily identify 
them. The writers have known instances in which plants submitted 
for classification could not be identified because of insufficient mate- 
rial, or because, if named, the designations were followed by question 
marks. Although primarily an ethnological subject, ethnobotany 
does not exclude the necessity for accuracy as regards the botanical 
part of the work. 

Previous Ethnobotanical Studies 

Ethnobotany has received attention from a number of ethnologists, 
and valuable data have been accumulated. It is desirable that 
this material be assembled, so that the present state of ethnobot- 
any may be better ascertained; and furthermore, that problems and 
methods of research may be outlined and work in this field be con- 
ducted systematically and with a definite purpose in view. 

Harshberger 1 in a paper published in 1890 discussed the purposes 
of ethnobotany and pointed out the importance of the subject in 
general. He made the interesting suggestion that ethnobotanical 
gardens, in which should be grown only aboriginal plants, be estab- 
lished in connection with museums. Havard 2 has written two 

1 Harshberger, J. W., Purposes of Ethno-botany, Botan. Gazette, xxi, pp. 146-54, 1896. 

2 Havard, V., The Food Plants of the North American Indians, Bull. Torrey Botan. Club, xxn, no. 3, 
pp. 93-123, 1895. Drink Plants of the North American Indians, ibid., xxm, no. 2, pp. 33-46, 1896. 

67961°— Bull. 55—16 2 



6 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



articles giving valuable accounts of the most important food and 
drink plants of the North American Indians. Barrows 1 has discussed 
the ethnobotany of the Coahuilla Indians of southern California, 
including much information on the general ethnology of the tribe. 
Chamberlin 2 gives lists of the plant names of the Ute and the Gosiute 
Indians, including in many instances etymology and uses to which 
the plants were put. Plants known fco have been utilized by the 
Luisenos of southern California are listed by Sparkman, 3 with their 
Luiseflo, botanical, and English names. 

Attention is drawn also to the papers by Powers, 4 Coville, 5 Fewkes, 6 
Hough, 7 Matthews, 8 Stevenson, 9 and others. 

1 Barrows, David Prescott, The Ethnobotany of the Coahuilla Indians of Southern California, pp. 1-82, 
Chicago, 1900. 

2 Chamberlin, Ralph V., Some Plant Names of the Ute Indians, Amer. Anfhr., n. s., xi, no. 1, 1909. Eth- 
nobotany of the Gosiute Indians, Memoirs Amer. Anthr. Assoc., n, pt. 5, pp. 331^105, 1911. 

3 Sparkman, Philip Stedman, The Culture of the Luiseno Indians, Univ. Calif. Pub., Amer. Archeol. and 
Eihn . , vm, pp . 187-234, 1908. 

4 Powers, Stephen, Aboriginal Botany, Proc. Calif. Acad. Set., v, pp. 373-379, 1873-75. 

s Coville, F. V., Plants Used by the Klamath Indians of Oregon, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb., v, pp. 87-108, 
1897. 

6 Fewkes, J. Walter, A Contribution to Ethnobotany, Amer. Anthr. ,ix, no. 1, pp. 14-21, 1896. 

7 Hough, Walter, The Hopi in Relation to their Plant Environment, ibid., x, no. 2, pp. 33-44, 1897. 

8 Matthews, Washington, Navajo Names for Plants, Amer. Nat., xx, pp. 767-77, 1886. 

9 Stevenson, Matilda Coxe, Ethnobotany of the Zuhi Indians, Thirtieth Ann. Rep., Bureau of American 
Ethnology, pp. 31-102, 1915. 



TEWA CONCEPTS OF PLANT LIFE 

Functions of Plant Parts 

We speak of the functions of certain plant parts; for example, we 
say the leaf makes food for the plant, the bark has a protective 
function, the colored petals of a flower attract insects. What are the 
Indians' ideas of the functions of the parts of plants? It seems 
that the majority of their ideas arise directly from their observation 
of life phenomena; they do not arise as the result of thought and 
deliberation; there is little evidence of philosophizing or of inquiry 
into the reasons for the existence of things and conditions. They 
say that the leaves make the plant grow; when the leaves fall off the 
plant stops growing. The tree in the winter condition is not con- 
sidered to be dead; they say it does not grow then because it has no 
leaves; the tree stays just the way it is in the fall until leaves come 
again. This idea arises purely from their observation of seasonal 
vegetative events; they have not thought out nor wondered how 
and why it is that the leaves cause resumption of growth. The 
leaves fall from the tree because they get ripe like fruit. If you ask 
them why a cottonwood sheds its leaves and a pine tree does not, they 
have no answer. They observe the fact, but so far as could be 
ascertained they have not thought about the reason therefor. We 
find no folklore connected with the great majority of phenomena 
relating to plant life. The roots of a tree are the parts upon which 
the plant sits. The word for root, pu, is the same as that for haunches, 
buttocks; base, bottom, or foot of inanimate objects. They have not 
observed that roots take up water, but they say the " roots have to 
get wet or the plant dies." The bark is considered to be a protection 
to the tree; the word for bark, also for skin, is Yowa; the bark is the 
skin of the tree. Spines, thorns, prickles are not thought to have 
any protective function. The Tewa appear to have a very vague idea 
of sex in plants. To corn pollen, which is used so much by them in 
their religious ceremonies and which is produced by the plant in such 
great abundance, was ascribed no use; the informants had not ob- 
served that it falls on the corn silk and that its presence there is 
necessary for the development of the ear of corn. It is merely some- 
thing finely divided and yellow, and holy when used in certain ways. 
A Tewa once made the statement, however, that one can not get a 
field of purely white corn because the wind always mixes the colors 
(see p. 84) , but his idea was perhaps vague. The little plant is thought 

7 



s 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



to be within the seed; the informant said "the plant is in the seed, 
but you can not see it . " They say that when you put the seed into the 
ground and pour water on it, and it "gets a good shock/' it grows up. 
"Bees go to the flowers to get honey; after a while they get their 
young from [by the help of] the flower." 

Classification of Plants 

Although the Tewa distinguish plants from animals and again from 
minerals, and also recognize more or less consciously such classes as 
trees, shrubs, small flowering plants, vines, grasses, fungi, mosses, 
etc., much as Europeans do, the classificatory words in the Tewa 
language are very few as compared with a language such as English. 

There is not even a word meaning ' plant' unless it be p % e, which 
signifies primarily a 1 stiff, long object/ and is variously applied to 
stick, pole, stake, stalk, trunk, timber, log, stave, staff, plank, board, 
lumber, wood, plant. Yet the morphology of the language shows 
how consistently plants are recognized as not being animals or min- 
erals. All nouns denoting plants and most nouns denoting parts of 
plants have vegetal gender, 1 a fact shown by a peculiar form of 
adjectives and verbs construed with such nouns. Thus p*e pV\y, 
'red stick' (p'e, stick; pi, red), has vegetal gender: sing, pe pi'iy, 
dual jpe pi'iy, 3+ plu. pe piH H ; tse piH J \ 'red dog' (tse, dog; pi, 
red), has animal gender: sing, tse piH H , dual tse pViy, 3+ plu. tse 
pv\y; Jcu piH H , 'red stone' (Jcu, stone; pi, red), has mineral gender: 
sing. Jcu piH H , dual Jcu pi'iy, 3+ plu. Jcu piH H . 

^Akqy, 'field', 'open country', prepounded to the names of plants 
in some cases distinguishes the wild from the cultivated variety; thus: 
\iJcqnsi, 'wild onion' i^akqy, 'field'; si, 'onion'). Plants are distin 
guished also as mountain plants, valley plants, good plants, bad plants, 
etc. Edible wild plants are sometimes grouped as tsdyw8eH H , 'green 
things' (tsdywse blue, green). 

There is no general word meaning 'tree' unless it be p K e, 'stiff 
long object/ 'stick/ 'lumber/ 'plant/ referred to above. English 
'tree' or Spanish arbol is sometimes rendered by te, Populus wislizeni, 
ywsey, Pinus brachyptera, or some other name of a large 'tree' 
species; cf. he, 'fruit tree/ below. 

There is no word meaning 'shrub' or 'bush' unless it be this same 
word jpe. The diminutive postpound '<? may be added to a tree name 
to show that the plant is dwarfed or young. Thus: hu, Juniperus 
monosperma, hy?e 9 dwarfed or young plant, bush, shrub of Juniperus 
monosperma. 



1 Pj77, 'mountain,' and some other nouns which do not denote plants or parts of plants also have 
this gender. 



ROBBINS, HARRINGTON, 
FREIRE-MARRECO 



ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 9 



Be, meaning originally ' roundish fruit,' as that of the chokecherry 
or wild rose, has become applied to all kinds of introduced fruits and 
also to the plants which bear them. Thus be means fruit tree, as 
apple, peach, plum, or orange tree. Fruit tree may also be called 
bep*e (be, roundish fruit, fruit, fruit tree; jfe stick, plant). 

To, meaning originally pinon nut, i. e. nut of the to, 'pinon tree,' 
has become extended in application to all kinds of nuts except coco- 
nuts. Nut tree might be called tope (to, pinon nut, nut; pe, stick, 
plant), but there would rarely be occasion to use so general and inclu 
sive a term. 

P^JnseM, 'rubbish,' 'litter,' 'lint,' 'weed,' 'herbaceous plant,' is 
very common, its application not being restricted to useless plants. It 
is the nearest equivalent of Spanish yerba. Cf . French chenille which 
originally meant only 'rubbish' and now usually means 'caterpillar'. 

Pdb\, 'flower,' like the English word 'flower,' in the case of smaller 
plants of which the flowers are a conspicuous part often loosely de- 
notes the entire plant. Several of the Tewa specific plant names con- 
tain pdti with the meaning ' flower plant'. 

There is no word meaning 'vegetable' in the sense of German 
Gemuse. 

'Apse, 'vine', exactly covers the meanings of the English 'vine'. 
Ta 'grass,' 'hay'. 

Te is said to signify almost any kind of fungus. 

K'owa, 'tegument', 'skin', is applied to any skinlike vegetal 
growth, as many kinds of moss and lichen. 

DISCRIMINATION 

Small differences in plants are observed by the Tewa. It is remark- 
able how closely distinctions are made by them. For instance, they 
have a name for every one of the coniferous trees of the region; in 
these cases differences are not conspicuous. The ordinary individual 
among the whites does not distinguish the various coniferous trees, 
but, as a rule, calls them all pines. It is clear that the majority of 
white people are less observant and in many cases know far less about 
plant life than does the Indian, who is forced to acquire knowledge in 
this field by reason of his more direct dependence on plants. 



PLANT NAMES OF THE TEWA 



Character of Plant Names 

A majority of the Tewa names of plants are descriptive, having 
reference to some striking characteristic of the plant, to its use, its 
habitat, etc. The same is true to a great extent of common English 
names of plants; for instance, ground ivy, monkey flower, pine drops, 
crane's bill, monkshood, jack-in-the-pulpit, etc. Just as among Eng- 
lish common names of plants we find some the reason for the original 
application of which is not understood, so we find similar cases among 
the Indians. Why do we call a certain tree dogwood ? And why do 
the Tewa call a certain plant ' coyote plant ' ? Asa result of the de- 
scriptive character of plant names by far the larger proportion of them 
are compound. Following is a list of such names. 

Non-compounded Tewa Plant Names 

It will be seen from the following list that the plants which have 
non-compounded and distinctive names are the most common, con- 
spicuous, and widely used ones of the region. The etymology of 
these words is unknown to the Tewa, the words being merely phonetic 
symbols employed to designate the various plants. There are com- 
paratively few of these unetymologizable names. Many other plant 
names are formed by compounding them. 

Unetymologizable Plant Names of Native Origin 

'Abe, chokecherry P ^, large rabbit-brush 

'Awa, cattail Qw%, mountain mahogany 

'Awi, Galium, bedstraw Qwa, guaco 

Uy,, one- seeded juniper Sa, tobacco 

Jay, willow . Sagobe, potato-like plant 

Jo, chandelier cactus Sx, Opuntia 

Kojaje, Spam yerba de vibora SeFsey, cotton 

Kwse, oak Si, onion 

Ktyy, skunk-bush Su, amaranth 

_ZTV a , rose Ta, grass 

ICyy, corn Te, valley cottonwood 

Mind, aspen Te, fungus 

J^'wxt), rock pine (pL 1) Tu, bean 

' Oda, globe mallow. To, Rocky Mountain sage 

Po, squash, pumpkin To, pinon pine (pi. 1) 

Po, Phragmites, "carrizo" Tse, Douglas spruce 

Pli hij,, four-o'clock Tfy,y, alder 

I y a, Yucca baccata, Span. Wsejoha, ragweed 

"datil" 
10 



ROBBINS^ HARRINGTON, 
PREIEE-MARRECO 



'] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 



11 



It appears that about thirty Spanish plant names of etymology un- 
known to the Tewa and for which there are no common Tewa equiva- 
lents have been taken into the everyday language, and are used pre- 
cisely as are the thirty-six native plant names listed above. In addi- 
tion to these there are many other Spanish designations of plants with 
which the Tewa are familiar. 

Plant Names of Spanish Origin that Have no Common Equiv- 
alents of Tewa Origin 

-* 

'Alniendda, almendra, almond MaWa, malva, mallow 



'Alp'alpa, alfalfa 
AnV\ anil, sunflower 
'Apiu, apio, celery 
Aspamgu, esparrago, aspar- 



Moda, mora, mulberry, black- 



berry 

Motasa, mostaza, mustard 
JWcuiayka, naranja, orange 
^Qyqu, hongo, mushroom 
Pedh, pera, pear 
Pontfi, ponil, Fallugia 
Sa7idia, sandia, watermelon 
SeleM, "celeri," celery 
Sedesa, cereza, cherry 
Te 9 te, tea 

Tomate, tomate, tomato 
Tsigu, chico 
Tsindl, chile, pepper 
' Ule, hule, rubber 



agus 

Banana, banana, banana 
Be?iundi, melon, melon 
Bedu, berro, cress 
'Igfr, higo, fig 

KaJcwwate, cacahuate, peanut 

Kanh, cana, cane 

Kape, cafe, coffee 

Kohb, coco, coconut 

Kole, col, cabbage 

Let f ugja, lechuga, lettuce 

Limoy, limon, lemon 



PARTS AND PROPERTIES OF PLANTS 



Tewa names designating parts of plants do not correspond closely 
with those usad in English. A part which may be designated in Eng- 
lish by a single term is frequently called by various terms in Tewa 
according to the species. Thus: Eng. 'bark', Tewa Tcowa, said of 
most trees, but qwioe, said of the one-seeded juniper; Eng. 'stalk,' 
Tewa jpe, said of many plants, but FySy,, 'corn stalk.' Again, the 
opposite is frequently true. Thus Tewa ha is applied to leaves, petals 
of flowers, and needles of coniferous trees. 

Another interesting feature is the extension of application of a 
word originally used to denote one conception only, to include related 
conceptions. Thus the Tewa called the pinon tree to, while to is used 
for the pinon nut, the seed of the pinon tree, and original etymologi- 
cal connection between to and to seems certain after an examination 
of cognate words in other Tanoan languages. The Tewa of the 
present day, however, apply to also to the seeds of some other conif- 
erous trees, thus: yivxnio, 'seed of the rock -pine' (yw%y, rock pine; 
to, pinon nut, nut), and even to any kind of introduced nut, peanuts, 
the kind of introduced nuts with which the Tewa are most familiar, 
being regular^ called to. 

It is commonly supposed that the vocabularies of Indian languages 
are meager and that to translate scientific works into them would be 
almost impossible. Quite the opposite is true, at least as regards 
Tewa, the vocabulary of which is rich and capable of expressing 
abstract thought. Indeed, it would be possible to translate a treatise 
on botany into Tewa, although the translation would be somewhat 
clumsy. 

Flowers, their Parts and Functions 

Pob~l, 'flower', 'flowering plant.' This word applies to any flowers. 
The name of the species is often prepounded, thus: ¥a^ a pool, ' wild 
rose flower' {¥d >a , wild rose; pdt\ flower). Pool is evidently 
cognate with the second syllable of Isleta nqpaF, 'flower,' etc. 
The winged fruit of tejedi, 'box-elder' (see fig. 1), is also called pool. 

The relation of the wing to the seed is similar to that of the petals to 

the seed of a flower. The true flower of the box-elder is also called 

pool. 

Pool is very commonly used meaning 'flowering plant,' as English 
'flower.' (Compare Tennyson's "Flower in the crannied wall.") 

12 



?BS?BB-MfEREC I o 6TON '] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 13 

Pobl is not, however, applied to inflorescence, as of corn, 3'ucca, 
etc. , although the entire inflorescence is sometimes called in English 
the flower of the plant. See below under the heading Inflorescence. 

Figurative uses of pdtii are pretty. Young men use the expression 
na%\ poVb, 'my sweetheart,' literally 'my flower.' Ptihl is found in 
many compounded personal names of women, in which it appears as 
both a prepounded and a postpounded element. The other adjoined 
member of such names is frequently omitted in conversation, the 
woman or girl being called merely Pobl, 'flower.' A white cumulus 
cloud is called ^oVitwa po^ltsse'% >i , 'white flower cloud' ('oFuwa, cloud; 
pdbi, flower; Use., white). Eagle down is called tsejpoVi, 'eagle flower' 
{tse, eagle; jpobi, flower). 

PoVika, 'petal,' literally 'flower leaf (pobl, flower; ha, leaf); cf. Ger- 
man Blumenblatt. Ka alone is also used, meaning ' petal. ' Petals 
are called ' flower leaves' in many languages because of their leaf- 
like appearance. Many of the descriptive terms applied to leaves 
(see below) might also be applied to petals. 

Poiltey, 'stamen,' literally 'flower tube' (poVi, flower; teg, tube, 
stalk bearing inflorescence). If the stamens resemble corn-silk 
they may be called sse-, see below. Pistil is usually also called 
poVitey^ not being distinguished from the stamens. If the differ- 
ence between stamens and pistil is noticeable in that the latter 
lacks an anther, the pistil may be called poWitem beivepi'iy, 'tube 
without a knob on the end' (pobl, flower; tejj, tube; bewe, knob, 
small roundish thing; pi, negative); see pdbiteinbewe ] e, below. 
The functional difference between stamen and pistil was not un- 
derstood b}^ the Tewa informants. The diminutive tetfe may 
well be substituted for tey. 

Pobltembewe^e, 'anther,' 'stigma,' literally 'flower- tube knob' (pobl, 
flower; tey, tube; bewe, small roundish thing; '<?, diminutive). 
The functional difference between anther and stigma was not 
known to the informants. 

Sse (Hano Tewa, sselse), ' corn-silk', ' stamens and pistil resembling corn- 
silk'. The silk of corn consists of the styles which are attached 
to the grains (seeds) of corn (see fig. 6). Instead of sse one also 
hears ssepdbi, literally 'corn-silk flower' (sse, corn-silk; pofil, 
flower), and ssefuy (sse, corn-silk; fuy, to fly?), both having 
exactly the same meaning and usage as sse. 

K\tu, 'pollen', literally 'inflorescence kernel' (hay, inflorescence; tu, 
kernel, distinguished by some speakers at least from tu, flesh, 
meat, by its tone). Katu is applied to the pollen of any kind of 
flower or inflorescence, the etymology being merely dormant in 
the minds of the speakers. The fructifying action of pollen was 
not known to any of the informants. One may hear also hqtu 
fsejViy, 'yellow pollen' (Mtu, pollen; tse, yellow). 



14 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



tBULL. 55 



Pohlk'sey, 'pollen', literal^ 'flower meal' (pdbl, flower; ¥%y, meal, 
flour). This term appears to be less used than Mtu. As in the 
case of Mtu one also hears pdblJcsey tseji^iy, 'yellow pollen, 
(pdb\F%y, pollen; tse, 3 T ellow). 

PoWdy, 'flower cover', 'calyx', 'sepals' {pdbi, flower; 'dy, cov- 
ering). 

PcMpu, 'flower stem' {pdb\ flower; pu, base, buttocks, root. stem). 
Cf . Icapu, leaf stem, bepu, fruit stem, etc. ; see below. 

A flower bud is called 'opWi or pdbVop\i. ' Opu is used of any bud 
or young sprout, whether of flower, leaf, or stem. Of a flower bud which 
has not yet burst or opened the Tewa say: nqpdbV dmmu, 'the flower 
is enveloped or covered' (nq, it; pdb\, flower; ^dy, to envelop or cover; 
my, to be), or windpdbipdmpi, 'the flower has not yet burst' (wi, 
negative; nq, it; pdbl, flower; pay, to burst; pi, negative), or ndp)db\- 
wa?nu, 'the flower is an egg,' 'the flower is in the bud' (nq, it; 
pot\, flower; wa, egg; mu, to be). See also wa, under Fruits, below. 
When the flower bud has opened, one may say: nqpoVipqy, 'the flower 
has burst' (nq, it; pdb\, flower; pqy, to burst). The Tewa inform- 
ants volunteered the information that the pollen falls or is shed: 
ndMtut' 'dnnx, 'the pollen falls or is shed' (nq, it; Mtu, pollen; 
£dnn%, to fall or be shed), or ndkqtujemu, 'the pollen falls' (nq, 
it; hqtu, pollen; jemu, to fall). When the petals start to wither, 
one may say: ndpotlspide^e, 'the flower is withering' (nd, it; ptibl, 
flower; s\y, to wither; dde, progressive). When the petals are with- 
ered and already dry, one may say: nqpdb\{kd)ta, 'the flower is dry 
or the flower petals are dry' (nq, it, they; pdtii, flower; Tea, leaf, petal; 
la, to be diw). Of dropping petals, one may say: ndpdblMfdnnx, 'the 
petals are falling or being shed' (net, it, they; pdbllca, petal; fqnnx, 
to fall, to be shed), or nd^dblkajemu, 'the petals are falling' (nq, it, 
the} 7 ; ptiftika, petal; jemu, to fall). After the petals are shed, one 
might sa} T of the flower: ndpdbitf a, 'the flower is dead' (nq, it; pdbl, 
flower; t fu, to be dead). 

Inflorescence 

Kdy, 'inflorescence,' 'tassel.' Kdy refers to any group of flowers on a 
stem. Thus: FuyMy, 'tassel of corn' (k'uy, corn; My, inflores- 
cence) (see fig. 6); takqy, 'inflorescence of grass' (ta, grass; My, 
inflorescence) (see fig. 5); wsejohakdy, 'inflorescence of common 
ragweed' (wxjoka, common ragweed; My, inflorescence). In case 
the flowers are not scattered along the stalk but have their bases 
surrounded by a common involucre, one would hardly apply My, 
but would describe such a group as: Hwega ndpdbiinu, ' the flowers 
are together' ('iwega, together in one place; nd, they; prM, 
flower; mu, to be), or nqpoViqwim, 'the flowers are tied together' 
din, they; potl, flower; qwi, to tie; m, to lie, to be, said of 3+). 



JSSi^tS^K? 6 * "'! ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 15 

h Klli i K hi- yi AKKh.L. U % J 

Tejj, 'tube,' 'stamen,' 'pistil,' 'stalk hearing inflorescence'. Tey is 
said of hollow cylindrical objects. Thus: k'uy(M)tey, 'stalk of 
corn tassel' (Jcuy, corn plant; Tc4, inflorescence; tube, stalk 
bearing inflorescence); p'a(M)tey, 'stalk bearing inflorescence of 
'Yucca baccata' (jfa, Yucca baccata; Icq, inflorescence; tey, tube, 
stalk bearing inflorescence). 

Kqlq, ' cluster' (Hano). Thus: te fcalq, 'clustered catkins of the cotton- 
wood tree. ' The same term would be applied to a cluster of grapes. 

Tjaka, 'bunch' (Hano). Thus: tenjotjaka, bunch of white fir foliage. 

Seeds and Fruits, their Parts and Functions 

Pe, 'seed,' 'fruit,' 'crop.' This is the adjective pe, 'ripe,' 
'mature,' used as a noun; for adjectival use of pe see below. 
Pe is applied to any seed or fruit 
produced by any plant, also to crops 
in the sense of seeds or fruits col- 
lectively . Rarely it refers to ' crops, ' 
meaning matured whole plants or 
any part or parts of matured plants. 
Thus: tqtqpe, ' seed, fruit, or berry 
of wheat,' 'wheat crop,' not includ- 
ing or excluding stalks, leaves, or 
roots (tcltq, wheat; pe, seed, fruit, 
crop). Pe may be used instead of 
tqy, to, Tee, Va, be, pege, Vode, and 
the names of introduced nuts and 

fruits; see below. Pe tends espe- fig. i.-Mtof box-eiaer. 
cially to supplant Fa and pege. 

Thus: hupe, 'berry of one-seeded juniper,' instead of hypege (hu, 
one-seeded juniper; pe, seed, fruit, crop); Jcwsepe, 'acorn,' instead 
of kivseFa (hvx, oak tree; pe, seed, fruit, crop). In the case 
of fruits to which none of the other words applies very well, 
pe is regularly applied. Thus: ^dbepe, 'fruit of the chokecherry' 
('#$<?, chokecherry; pe, seed, fruit, crop); sxpe, 'prickly-pear 
or Opuntia' (sse, Opuntia; pe, seed, fruit, crop). Pe is used as 
a second member of compounds, such as p'epe, Jeape, bepe, etc. ; 
see below. See also pe, ' immature kernel of corn either on the 
cob or cut off the cob,' listed below, which may be the same word. 

P K epe, 'seed,' 'fruit,' 'crop' {pe, stick, plant; pe, seed, fruit, 
crop). This is an equivalent of the non-compounded pe. 

Tar), 'seed.' This word is applied to any seed. It may be, but 
usually is not, applied instead of to or Fa\ see below. Intro- 
duced nuts may be called tqy, just as we would call them seeds, 
but the common name for them is to. 




16 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



To, 'pinon nut,' 'nut.' As stated above, an examination of cognate 
words in other Tanoan languages leads us to believe that to is ety- 
mologically related to to, 'pinon tree,' and that the original sig- 
nification of to is 4 pinon nut. ' The present application of to to 
the seeds of the rock pine and to introduced nuts is probably a 
more recent extension of the use of the word. Thus: ywaenio, ' seed 
or nut of the rock pine' (r/w%y rock pine; to, pinon nut, nut); for 
names of introduced nuts see under names of plants, below. 

Bewe, 'small roundish object,' 'cone of coniferous tree.' Bewe is 
said to be used of the cones of coniferous trees only in the com- 
pounds tarn bewe, 'cone with seeds in it' (tqy seed; bewe, small 
roundish object, cone), and tobewe, 'cone with nuts in it' (to, 
pinon nut, nut; bewe, small roundish object, cone). Like buju 
(see below) bewe refers of course to the shape. An empty cone 
may be distinguished by postjoining Fowa, 'skin,' 'husk,' or by 
using Fowa alone; also by saying winqtqmmupi, 'it has no 
seeds' (wi, negative; nd, it; tqy, seed; niu, to have; pi, negative). 

Buju, 'small roundish object,' 'cone of coniferous tree.' Cf. bewe, 
above, the usage of which this word exactly parallels. 

ICe (Hano Tewa Fili), 'grain of corn,' 'small bud of cottonwood 
flower.' The commonest compounds are said to be: FuyFe, 
'grain of corn' (Fuy, corn plant; Ice, grain, in this sense), and 
telce, 'flower bud of valley cottonwood' (te, valley cotton- 
wood; Ice, grain, bud, in bud, in this sense). 

K K ode, 'ear of corn husked or not husked.' The word has this one 
meaning only. 

IV a, 'acorn', 'fruit of the skunk-bush.' This word appears to be 
used of these two fruits only. The commonest compounds are 
said to be kwseFa, 'acorn' (kw%, oak tree; lea, acorn, fruit of 
the skunk-bush), and IcuFa, ' fruit of the skunk-bush' (leu, skunk- 
bush; lea, acorn, fruit of the skunk-bush). 

K K ape, 'acorn', 'fruit of the skunk-bush' (Fa, acorn, fruit of the 
skunk-bush; pe, seed, fruit, crop). The use of the word is simi- 
lar to that of Fa, above. 

Br, 'roundish fruit',* 'apple', 'any kind of introduced fruit.' Thus: 
Fa^be^ 'fruit of the wild or introduced rose' (Fa? a , rose: be, 
apple, introduced fruit) is heard as well as Fti a pe (Fa? a , rose; 
pe, seed, fruit, crop). Be evidently refers to roundish shape 
and is connected with begl, 'small and roundish like a ball,' bugl, 
'large and roundish like a ball,' etc. 



BOBBINS, HARRINGTON 
FREIBIS-MAUBECO 



; '] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 17 



tfw%'be >e , ywse,bi(? u , 'prickly, roundish seed-pod' {ywse, thorn, 
pricker; he'\ bi(? u , roundish thing). Of smaller pods ywsebe e 
would be used, of larger ones ywseha" u . It happened that the 
informants applied these compounds only to the seeds of the 
Datura meteloides, using the compound sap*eyw%be ,e , 'prickly, 
roundish seed pod of Datura meteloides'' (yw%, thorn, pricker; 
be^, small thing roundish like a ball). Be* e or b\C u could hardly 
be used alone with this meaning. 

Bepe, 'apple,' 'any kind of introduced fruit' (be, apples, introduced 
fruit; pe, seed, fruit, crop). Use and meaning are quite iden- 
tical with those of non-compounded be. Bepe is used meaning 
'fruit crop,' but be is also used with this meaning. 

Deg.e, 'berry.' This word was applied by the informants to the fruit 
of the one-seeded juniper, hypege (hy, one-seeded juniper; peg.e y 
berry) being a common compound. The informants stated that 
they had heard pege applied also to the fruit of the chokecherry 
and of the introduced currant. As nearly as the writers can 
understand, the meaning oipeg.e is 'tough, leathery berry.' 

Pegepe, 'berry' (peg.e, berry; pe, seed, fruit, crop). Use and mean- 
ing are identical with those of peg_e, above. 

Wa, 'egg,' ' green pod of milkweed.' Compare also the expression: 
nqpdblwamy 1 'the flower is an egg,' meaning 'the flower is 
young or in the bud' (net, it; pdb\, flower; wa, egg; my, to be), 
listed under Flower, above. 

The Tewa names denoting all kinds of introduced fruits and nuts 
should also be classed here, since these names apply both to the 
plant and to the fruit. They will be found below. All these names 
admit of being postpounded with pe, 'seed,' 'fruit,' 'crop.' 

M$n%y, 'bunch or cluster of anything,' 'bunch or cluster of fruit.' 
Thus: h&ama'nsey, 'bunch of grapes' (htta, grapes; m$n%n, 
bunch, cluster). 

My, 'bag,' 'sack,' 'pod.' My often refers both to pod and contents. 
Thus: tumy, 'bean-pod or bean' (iu, bean plant, bean; my, pod). 
Apparently it may be applied also to the round fruit of the squash. 
Thus, in a war song used at Hano: H'a ^ybi 'ebi pokymele nan 
(Iqmpomy pcui, 'your son's skull I have made into a squash-bag' 
(Va, demonstrative, 'he'; ^y, you 1; hi, possessive; son, child; 
hi, possessive; pokymele, 'head-ball'; nay, unprefixed pronoun 1st 
sing.; day, emphatic form of inseparable pronoun do, 'I — it'; 
pomy, 'squash-bag'; paM<pa, 'make,' 'do,' verbal form ex- 
pressing antecedent circumstance). 



18 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 55 

\Olcu, 'down,' 'fluff.' 

JPdb\ 'flower,' 'fruit of the box-elder,' 'fluff of cottonwood seeds.' 
Thus: tejeMjxM, ' box-elder seed' of flower-like appearauce (tej&ii, 
box-elder; pdb\, flower); te^poil, 'cottonwood fluff ' (t&iq, cotton- 
wood seed-pod; poVi, flower). The latter is called also teM'oku 
Coku, down). 

Pu, 'base,' 'buttocks,' 'root,' 'stem.' Pu is used of the stem of 
fruit. Thus: bepu, 'stem of fruit' (be, apple, introduced fruit; 
pu, base, stem); tqmpu, 'stem of a seed' (tqy, seed; pu, base, 
stem). But cf . Vapu below. 

fa, 'ear-wax,' 'the rough surface of tanned deerskin,' 'the bloom 
on the surface of fruits and plants.' Thus: r ubafa, 'the bloom 
or fine bluish dust on the surface of a grape' (hiba, grape; fa, 
ear-wax, bloom). 

Te^q, ' unripe or ripe seed -pod of the female cottonwood of any species.' 
When these burst, white fluff comes forth from them which is 
called teMpobl (pdbl, flower) or te*ic£oku ('olcu, down). 

Tu, 'kernel of a seed.' Commonly used compounds are tqntu, 'kernel 
of a seed' (tar), seed; tu, kernel), and iotu, 'kernel of a nut' (to, 
pinon nut, nut; tu, kernel). Tu, 'kernel,' has a level tone; tic, 
'flesh,' has a circumflex tone. 

ICsey, 'meal,' 'flour,' 'ground-up seeds.' 

K K owa, 'skin,' 'tegument,' 'shell,' 'husk,' 'bark.' Thus: tolcowa, 
'nut shell' (to, pinon nut, nut; Jeoiva, skin, shell); 1co<ie1cowa, 
'husk of ear of corn' Qco<ie, ear of corn; Fowa, skin, husk). 

ICapu, 'handle' of anything, 'stem of an ear of corn.' With refer- 
ence to plants the term appears to be used only of the stem of 
an ear of corn, being equivalent to 1c 'o<ie1c 'apu, 'stem of an ear 
of corn' (Fode, ear of corn; 1c apu, handle, stem of corn ear). 
The second syllable of 1c opto appears to be pu, base. Stem of 
ear of corn would hardly be called Fo^epu. 

Tsgbi, 'core,' of apple, pear, etc; 'pith.' See page 24. 

Kuy, 'wing,' 'corncob.' For 'corncob' the frequent compound is 
IcovCeJcuy, 'corncob' (1co<ie, ear of corn; Jcuy, wing of bird or 
other flying creature, cob). Kuy occurs also as second member of 
p'ehpj, 'bone' (p e, stick, long hard thing; Icuy, wing, cob). 
Whether hj,y may be said of skeleton-like parts of other plants 
was not ascertained. 

Of a flower going to seed the Tewa say: nqpobitqmpuwamsey, 'the 
flower goes to seed' (nd, it; potfo, flower; tqy, seed; puwa, to become; 
m%y, to go). The ordinary adjective denoting ripeness is pe. Thus: 
to pe'iy, 'ripe pinon nut' (to, pinon nut; pe, ripe); to pepi'iy, 'un- 



ROBBINS, HARK 
FREIRE-MARRECO 



BM?o 6TON '] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 19 



ripe piiion nut' (to, pinon nut; pe, ripe; pi, negative). Of all fruits 
which are green when unripe tsdywse, 'green,' maybe used. Thus: 
be tsdyiv&iy, 'green apple' {be, apple; tsdywsg, green). Of gourds, 
squashes, pumpkins, muskmelons, watermelons, and perhaps of some 
other fruits, he, 'hard,' is used of ripeness, while 'owa, 'soft,' is ap- 
plied to unripe condition. Thus: sqndia Ice'iy, 'hard, ripe water- 
melon' (sqndia, watermelon < Span, sandia; Ice, hard); sqndia' 'owa "iy , 
'soft, unripe watermelon' (sqndia, watermelon < Span, sandia; 'owa, 
soft). But of other fruits Ice, 'hard,' is used of unripeness and ^owa, 
'soft,' of ripeness or mellowness, just as in English. Thus: belceHy, 
'hard, unripe apple' (be, apple; Ice, hard); be'owdiy, 'soft, mellow 
apple' (be, apple; 'owa, soft). The adjectives given above may of 
course also be used predicatively. Thus : ndpenm, 'it is ripe' (nd, it; 
pe, ripe; mu, to be); toindpemujji, 'it is not ripe' (wi, negative; nq, 
it; pe, ripe; mu, to be; pi, negative). 

Leaves, their Parts and Functions 

leaves in general 

Ka (Hano Tewa, kala), "leaf.' Thus: k'urjka, 'corn leaf (Jcuy, corn; 
Jca, leaf). 

Kap K a, 'leaf surface' (Jca, leaf; p*a, large, thin, flat, and roundish). 
Kakiyqe, 'leaf edge' (ka, leaf; hinge, edge). 
Katsi, 'leaf point' (ka, leaf; tsi, point). 

Ka'okwd, 'leaf vein', 'leaf fiber' (ka, leaf; 'okwd, vein, artery). 

Kapo, 'leaf juice', literally 'leaf water' (ka, leaf; po, water). 

Kajpu, 'leaf stem' (ka, leaf; pic, base, stem). 

Of leaves falling the Tewa say: ndkafdnnse, 'the leaves fall' (nq, 
it, they; ka, leaf; fqmise, to fall); or nqkajemu, 'the leaves fall' (nd, 
it, they; ka, leaf; jemu, to fall). 

SIZE AND SHAPE OF LEAVES 

Ka he'iy, 'big leaf (ka, leaf; lie, big). Kajo (ka, leaf; jo, augmenta- 
tive) may not be used meaning ' big leaf.' 

Ka hinsg/iy, 'little leaf (ka, leaf; hinse, little). 

Ka'e, 'little leaf (ka, leaf; '<3 diminutive). 

Ka hejV\y, 'long leaf (ka, leaf; hejl, long). 

Ka hins^iy, 'short leaf (ka, leaf; hinse, short). Same as ' little leaf ,' 
above. 

Ka p'agl'iy, 'big flat leaf (ka, leaf; p*agi, large, thin, flat, and 
roundish). 



20 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 55 

Ka p'igViy, 'little flat leaf (ka, leaf; p'igl, small, thin, flat, and 
roundish). 

Ka p'agViy, 'broad flat leaf (ka, leaf; p*dgl, large, thin, flat, and 
roundish). Cf . ' big flat leaf,' above. 

Ka segViy, s slender leaf ' (ka, leaf; segl, slender). This term is applied 
to the needles of coniferous trees and to other slender leaves. 

Ka fagViy, 4 big round leaf (ka, leaf; tfagi, large, thin, and round). 

Ka figViy, 'little round leaf (ka, leaf; tfigl, small, thin, and round). 

Piyka, 'heart-shaped leaf (piy, heart; ka, leaf). 

Ka Tca'iy, 4 thick leaf (ka, leaf; lea, thick). 

Ka Icapi'iy, 'thin leaf (ka, leaf; ka, thick; pi, negative). 

COMPOUND LEAVES 

Ka wijeka^iy, 'bifoliolate leaf (ka, leaf; wije, two; ka, leaf). 

Kapojeka'iy, ' trif oliolate leaf (ka, leaf; poje, three; ka, leaf). 

Kajoniika'iy, ' quadrif oliolate leaf (ka, leaf; jonu, four; ka, leaf). 

If a single leaf has a deeply serrated edge it is not considered to be 
& multif oliolate leaf, but is called ka ss^ywViy, 'zigzag-edged leaf 
(ka, leaf; s%yw\, zigzagged). 

SURFACE OF LEAVES 

Ka 'dnse'iy, 'smooth leaf,' 'glabrous leaf (ka, leaf; ^qnse,, smooth). 

Ka 'otsa'iy, 'shiny, smooth leaf,' 'glaucous leaf (ka, leaf; ^otsa, 
shiny). 

Ka Tco'iy, 'rough leaf (ka, leaf; ko, rough). 

Ka tuFy?iy, ' ridged leaf (ka, leaf; iulcy,, backbone, vertebral column). 
Ka hegeiy, 'grooved leaf (ka, leaf; liege, arroyito, gulch, groove). 
Ka 'okwa'iy, 'veined leaf (ka, leaf; ^okwa, vein, artery). 

Kap'cPiy, 'hairy leaf,' ' pubescent leaf ,' 'puberulent leaf,' 'woolly 

leaf (ka, leaf; p~o, hairy). 
Ka p'okostfqndViy, 'coarse-haired leaf,' 'hispid leaf (ka, leaf ; p K o, 

hair; kosq^qndl, coarse). 

Ka^oku'iy, 'downy leaf,' 'fluffy leaf (ka, leaf; ^oku, downy, down, 
fluffy, fluff). 

Kajipiffiiy, 'prickly leaf (ka, leaf; jy,y, to pierce). 
Ka yw%?iy, 'thorny leaf (ka, leaf; ywse, thorny). ■ 
KahiWiy, 'sticky leaf (ka, leaf; isibe, sticky). 



^f^ S x;fp A p R F R no GT0N 'l ETHN0B0TANY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 21 

These adjectives have also predicative forms of course. Thus: 
nap'omu, 'it is hairy' (nq, it; p K o, hairy; mw, to be); nqtsibeto, 'it is 
sticky' (nq, it; tsibe, sticky; to, to make). 

MARGIN OF LEAVES 

Ka k\yqe, 'edge of a leaf (ka, leaf; kiyge, edge). 

Ka kiygtfqnsffvj, 'smooth-edged leaf (ka, leaf; k\yqe, edge; 'arise,, 
smooth). 

Ka kiyqesseywViy, 'zigzag-edged leaf (ka, leaf; k\yqe, edge; sseijwi, 
zigzagged). 

Ka k\ygeywq?iy, 'tooth-edged leaf,' 'dentate leaf (ka, leaf; kiyqe, 
edge; ywq, toothed). 

Ka k\yqesibe \y , 'torn-edged leaf (ka, leaf; kiyqe, edge; site, torn 
crosswise to the grain or fiber). 

Tendril 

'Agwi, 'tendril.' The etymology of this word is uncertain. The 
syllable qwi clearly means fiber; see below. 'A may be the 
verb meaning ' to grow ' or may be the same as the first syllable 
of 'ap%, 'vine'; or, it is connected perhaps with Hano Tewa 'awo, 
'tendril,' 'to spread' (said of plant). A slender tendril is called 
'aqwi segViy, 'slender tendril' ('aqwi, tendril; segi, slender). A 
curled tendril is called hiqwibe^, 'tendril curl' i^aqwi, tendril; 
bd e , small roundish thing). Tendrils are said to be mqyyicagi, 
'like hands' (may, hand; yvxtgl, like). 

Stalk, Trunk, Stump, Stem, Branch, Twig, Joint 

P'e, 'stick,' 'stalk,' 'pole,' 'trunk,' 'log,' 'wood,' 'plant.' P'e 
refers to almost any long stiff object. It is the only Tewa word 
meaning 'plant' in general, but is rarely used with this meaning. 
The staff of authority of the Pueblo governors is called p'e, or 
sometimes tujope, 'governor's stick' (tujo, governor; pe, stick). 
For meaning 'wood' see page 23. 

' TJdjuto, 'walking stick.' Walking sticks were made of various kinds 
of wood and were used mostly by old or crippled people. Per- 
haps this word hardly belongs here. Cf. 'luup^e, below. 

'Udup'e, 'prayer stick.' Cf. 'vuuto, above. 

Puge, 'lower part,' 'base or trunk of a tree' (pa, base, buttocks; 
ge, locative). When the trunk of a tree is referred to, one usually 
names the kind of tree, postpoundingj?;^. Thus: tepuge, 'lower 
part or trunk of a cottonwood tree' (te, Populus wislizeni; puge, 
lower part, trunk). 
67961°— Bull. 55—16 3 



22 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



ICuu, 'cornstalk.' This word refers only to the stalk of the corn 
plant. ICy?u in some irregular way may be connected etymo- 
logically with leu, 'corn plant.' 

T^j, 'tube,' 'hollow stalk.' Tzy refers to such a stalk as that of 
the yucca. Thus: p K ate.y, 'inflorescence stalk of Yucca baccata' 
(p'a, Yucca baccata; te_y, tube, hollow stalk). See under Inflor- 
escence, page 15. 

Piibe, 6 stump. ' This word refers to the stump of any tree or plant. 
Its etymology is ' not understood by the Indians. The first s} T l- 
lable appears to be pu, 'base,' 'buttocks.' 

Pu, 'base,' 'stem.' This is the word which means also 'buttocks' 
and 'root.' It is applied to the stem of a flower, leaf, or fruit as 
Germans might apply Sttel. Thus: pdbipu, 'flower stem' (pdbi, 
flower; pu, base, stem). 

ICapu, 'stem of an ear of corn.' This word means also 'handle' (of 
anything). Applied to plants it seems to be used only of the 
stem of Wo<ie, 'ear of corn.' Seepage 18. 

Waje, 'bough,' 'branch.' Waje is applied to boughs and branches of 
all plants, especially to those of trees. Thus: bewaje, 'branch 
of a fruit tree' (be, apple, fruit; waje, bough, branch). 

WajeFo, 'bough,' 'branch,' literally 'bough arm,' 'branch arm' 
(waje, bough, branch; ¥o, arm). The meaning and usage seem 
to be identical with those of the uncompounded waje. Thus: 
tewajeJco, 'branch of a valle} 7 cottonwood tree' (te, Populus 
wislizeni; loajeFo, bough, branch). 

Waje'e or wajeVo'e, 'twig,' 'twiglet' (waje or wajeleo, bough, 
branch; '<?, diminutive). 

Qwe, 'joint,' 'node,' 'internode.' Qwe is used as ambiguously as 
is English 'joint,' referring both to the nodes of a stem and to the 
sections of stem between the nodes. The word seems to refer 
more properly to the nodes, qwejaJi, 'between the joints' (qwe, 
node, internode; jaJb, between) being applicable to internodes. 
A joint of a stovepipe is, however, regularly called qwe. 

'Op\t, 'bud.' Wp'u refers to buds of stalks, stems, twigs, etc., as 
well as to those of flowers and leaves. Thus: waje? op* 'bud of 
a branch' (waje, bough, branch; ''op'u, bud). 

JC c (llano Tewa, k'ili), 'grain,' 'kernel,' 'bud of grain-like shape.' 
This is applied particularly to the red buds of the cottonwood of 
any species which are seen on the trees early in the spring. These 
are eaten, especially by the children. 



™™™ ^ f/J^n GT ° N ' 1 ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 23 

Root 

Pu, 'base,' 'buttocks,' 'stem,' 'root.' Thus: ¥y,mpu, 'corn root' 
{Fyy, corn plant; pu, root). Rootlet is called pii?e, 'little root' 
(pu, root; diminutive). 

Leaf- sheath 

JFy?y,Itfowa, ' leaf -sheath of corn' (&V^ 5 cornstalk; Jcowa, tegument, 
skin, bark). 

Tap'eFowa, 'leaf -sheath of a stalk of grass' (ta, grass; p'e, stalk; 
Jcowa, tegument, skin, bark). 

IPowa, 'tegument,' either alone or postpounded, would un- 
doubtedly be the term applied to any leaf -sheath. • 

Wood, Pith 

P K e, 'stick,' 'stalk,' 'stem,' 'pole,' 'trunk,' 'log,' 'lumber,' 'wood,' 
' plant. ' P x e is used of wood as palo and madera are used in Span- 
ish, but Spanish lena in the sense of 'firewood' is translated so, 
P'eis never used meaning 'firewood.' (Hodge gives as "Fire- 
wood or Timber" clan, San Juan and Santa Clara Pe-tdda, San 
Ildef onso Petdda, Hano Pe-tdwa (towa, people). 1 The rendering of 
p>e in these clan names as "firewood" is incorrect according to 
the writers' Indian informants.) 

P K e is common as the first element of compounds, where it must be 
rendered by ' wood ' or ' wooden ' in English. Thus: p l ekutsanda, 
'wooden spoon' (p'e, stick, wood; hutsanda, spoon < Spanish 
diehard). 

Green wood is called p*e ''otfu^iy (p'e, stick, wood; 'otfu, 
fresh, green, wet); dry or seasoned wood is called p K e td'iy (p*e, 
stick, wood; ta, dry). 

So, 'firewood.' This usually consists of dead, fallen, or drifted 
wood, picked up or torn on 1 ; but the same word is applied to trees 
felled for firewood. See p*e. 

A Tewa of Santa Clara told the following story: Long ago people 
had no fire and were trying to find it — who knows how they cooked? 
Perhaps they ate berries. They made four holes in a row in a slab of 
ywegy and then they twirled a stick in the holes and out of one of the 
holes came fire. . 

A few billets of firewood, carried by means of a cord on a man's 
shoulder and thrown down beside a woman's door, is considered an 



i F. W. Hodge, Pueblo Indian Clans, Amer. Anthr., ix, p. 350, Oct., 1896. 



24 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



appropriate present. When a woman is about to be confined, her 
husband's father often brings her firewood. 1 

Pope, 1 driftwood.' This is gathered and used as firewood. Consid- 
erable quantities of driftwood are to be found along the Rio 
Grande. 

T%$%, 4 pith,' 'core' of fruit. Seepage 18. This word is the adjective 
tsefil ' soft,' used as a noun. It refers to the soft, light, spongy 
tissue found in the stems of some plants. Thus: FySutseM, 'pith 
of the cornstalk' (k*y?y,, cornstalk; tgbi, pith). 

Fiber 

Qwi, 'fiber.' Thus: p K aqwi, 'yucca fiber' (j/a, Yucca baceata; qwi } 
fiber). We possibly have this word also in 'aqwi, 'tendril,' and 
qwibe, ' shreddy bark. ' See page 21. 

jP$'$9 'string.' This word usually applies to fiber already made into 
string, but might be said of any kind of fiber. 

Juice 

Po, 'water,' 'juice.' This word covers all the meanings of English 
'water,' 'juice.' Thus: &u > y,po, 'juice of a cornstalk' (¥y/u, 
cornstalk; po, water); tepo, 'sap of a valley cottonwood tree' (te, 
Populus wislizeni; po, water, juice). 

'Apo, 'sweet juice,' 'syrup' ('#, sweetness; po, water). 

Melasa, 'sweet juice,' 'syrup' (< Spanish melaza). 

Gum 

Kws&i 'gum.' The gum of various plants was chewed. Gum was 
also much used for sticking things together. Thus: yw%ykw%}, 
'gum or pitch of the rock pine' (yw%7}, rock pine; ~kw%, gum). 
Chewing-gum is called merely kw%. 

Bark 

K'ovja, 'tegument,' 'skin,' 'bark.' This is the commonest and most 
inclusive word meaning 'bark.' Thus: telcowa, 'valley cotton- 
wood bark' Populus wislizeni; ¥owa, tegument, bark). The 
general name for c moss' is lcu¥owa, 'rock skin' (Icu, rock; 
t 'o/ra, tegument, bark). 

1 In the seventeenth century women went to fetch firewood; see Benavides, Memorial (pp. 32,76): 
" Nacion Taos . . . una vieja hechizera, la qual, & titulo de ir por lefia al campo, saco £ otras quatro 
mugercs buenas Cristianas." At Santa Clara, after peace had been made with the Apaches de Navaj6 
in September, 1629, " Salian hasta las viejas por lefia por aquella parte." The acquisition of donkeys, 
and subsequently of horses and wagons, Avith iron tools, by the men, has removed wood-getting from 
the women's sphere of labor. Occasionally an old widow, or a woman whose husband is an invalid, 
may be seen chopping wood or gathering fallen branches. 



frS-marbec 1 ^ 01 *'] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 25 

' OFowa, 'bark' ('#, unexplained; Fowa, tegument, bark). This word 
has been heard only at San Juan Pueblo, where Icowa is also in 
use. Thus: te'oFowa, ' cottonwood bark ' (te, Populus wislizeni; 
^olcowa, bark). 

Qwtbe (Hano Tewa, qwi), 'shreddy bark 5 (qwi, fiber; be ?). So far as 
could be learned, qwibe is said of the bark of the one-seeded juni- 
per only. This is very shreddy and is a favorite substance for 
kindling fires. Thus: huqwihe (Hano Tewa, huqwi), 'bark of the 
one-seeded juniper ' (hu, one-seeded juniper; qwifte, shreddy bark). 
JIuFowa, 'bark of the one-seeded juniper' (hu, one-seeded juni- 
per; ¥owa, tegument, bark) may also be used. 1 

Hair, Spine, Thorn 

P K o, 'hair.' This word is said of any kind of hair on animals or 
plants. The down of birds is called thus. The diminutive form 
is pd'e, 'little hair' (po, hair; '^, diminutive). 

Ke, 'sharp-pointed thing.' This is the adjective Ice, 'sharp-pointed', 
used as a noun. Thus: palce, 'sharp point at the end of a yucca 
leaf (p*a, Yucca baccata; Ice, sharp-pointed thing). 

Ifwse, 'spine', 'thorn.' This word is applied to cactus spines and all 
kinds of thorns. Thus: joywse, 'spine of the long cactus' (jo, 
long cactus; ywse, spine); Fa? a yw8e, 'rose thorn' (Fa? a , rose; 
ywse, spine). 

^Agusa, 'needle 7 (< Span, aguja). This word may be used of cactus 
spines: jo^agusa, 'spine of the long cactus' (jo, long cactus; 
higusa, needle). 

One might mention here also verbs, as 6 it is sharp' (nq, it; Tee, 

to be sharp); dijuy, 'it pricks me' (di, it me;;'^, to pierce, to prick). 



!Is Gatschet's "Keres u&lca, Rinde" (in Zwolf Sprachen aus dem SudweMen Nordamerikas, p. 61, 
Weimar, 1876), a misprint for Rind or Rinder? The Cochiti call cattle wdka; the Tewa of Hano, wakd 
(< Span, vaca, cow). 



GROWTH OF PLANTS 



'A, 'to grow.' Thus: n$a, 'it grows' (nq, it; 'a, to grow); n£a- 
^QV9h 'it grows slowly' (nq, it; 'a, to grow; 'qyq\, slow); ncVa- 
'qny,, 'it grows fast' (nq, it; 'a, to grow; 'any,, fast). Hano 
Tewa, Wo, ' spread wdde,' applied to tendrils of vines, squashes, 
etc., and apparently to trees of spreading foliage. Thus: ' awo 
tsqywse, 'spread- wide greenness,' a female personal name given 
by the White Fir clan at Hano. 

Pi, 'to come up,' 'to grow up.' Thus: nqpi, 'it comes up' (nq, it; 
pi, to come up). This is said of a plant sprouting and growing 
up out of the ground. 

Fa, 'to burst,' 'to crack.' This is said of a plant unfolding or open- 
ing. Thus: sanqpapo' , 'the tobacco bursts open or unfolds' 
(sa, tobacco; nq, it; pa, to burst; po'°, to become). 

Of leaves (or flowers) opening and spreading wide the Tewa say 
dibikawa<ii, diMpdhlwa^i ' the 3+ leaves open themselves,' ' the 3+ flow- 
ers open themselves' (difii, prefixed reflexive pronoun third person 
3+ plural; lea, leaf; pdbl, flower; wa<ii, to spread open). Thus, in a 
war-song sung at Hano: Hwedqy 'alijowa teemse, pegqn dibikalawa*ii, 
6 thence the sunflowers, bursting open on every side, spread wide 
their leaves' ('iw&iqy, Hano dialectic emphatic form of Hwedi, thence; 
\Uijowa, Hano name for 'sunflower' ? species; tsemx, in all directions; 
pegqy, bursting; dtbi, prefixed reflexive pronoun third person 3+ plural; 
Jcala, Hano dialectic form of lea, leaf; wa<ii, to spread open). The same 
expression is used figuratively of clouds, thus: 'ok\iwa tsemse, ffiiptibi 
wadi, 'the clouds in all directions open their flowers' ^6k\iwa, clouds; 
ixmse, in every direction; diM, prefixed reflexive pronoun third person 
3+ plural; potl, flower; waM, to spread open).. 

Habits of Growth 

ISvAVi 'to stand.' Thus: nqyvjiy, 'it stands' {nq, it; yw\y, to stand). 

'Ayiviy, 'to grow in a standing position' ('a, to grow; yw\y, to 
stand). Thus: nq'aywiy, 'it grows in a standing position' (nq, 
it; 'a, to grow; yw\y, to stand). 

Ko, 'to lie.' Thus: nqho, 'it lies' (n$, it; Tco, to lie). 

'Alco, Ho grow in a lying position' ('a, to grow; Tco, to lie). Thus: 
n/VaJco, 'it grows in a lying position' (nq, it; 'a, to grow; Tco, 
to lie). 

26 



raESE-MfBKEC? 6TdN ' ] ETHN0B0TANY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 2/ 

Mxy, 'to go.' Thus: ndmsey, 'it sends out growth' (nd % it; mxy, 
to go). 

^Amsey, 'to grow sending out growth' ('#, to grow; mxy, to go). 
Thus: nd\imsey, 'it grows sending out growth' (nd, it; 'a, to 
grow; mxy, to go). 

Ji H , 6 to go about.' Thus: nqji H , 'it grows all about' [net, it; j>V'% 
to go about). 

^Aji H , 'to grow spreading about' ('«, to grow; ji H , to go about). 

FiA, 'interlaced.' Thus: ndp'uhnu', 'it is interlaced' (rag, it; 

interlaced; mu, to be). This is said of vines which grow 
through other plants. 

Dense Growth, Forest, Grove 

Ka, 'thick', 'dense', 'dense growth', 'forest'. This word is used, 
as an adjective and as a noun. Thus: toleaiy, 'a sagebrush 
plant of dense growth' (to, sagebrush plant; lea, thick, dense); 
iolea 'sagebrush thicket,' 'place where the sagebrush is thick' 
(to, sagebrush ; lea, dense growth, forest). Ka is used alone meaning 
forest, just as the Mexicans use monte and bosque. With names of 
geographical features postjoined, lea may be translated 'wooded' 
or 'where there is much vegetal growth.' Thus: tolea^akonu, 
'a plain or valley where the sagebrush grows thick' (to, sage- 
brush; lea, thick, thick growth; \tkonu, plain, valley); leahnge, 
' a low place where there is much vegetal growth' (lea, thick, thick 
growth; huge, low roundish place). 

BoJh, biua, ' thing roundish like a ball, 'pile,' 'clung.' BoA is said 
of large, bill of small size. Thus: teboA, 'grove of cotton- 
wood trees' (te, Populus wislizeni; boA, grove). Often lea, 
'thick' is prejoined to boA. Thus: leabo^l, 'a clump or 
grove of thick vegetal growth' (lea, thick, thick growth; bo A, 
clump, grove). 



CONDITION OF PLANTS 

Wowa, 'to be alive.' Thus: nqwowa, 'it is alive' (nq, it; wowa, to 
be alive). 

Tfu, 'to be dead.' Thus: nqtfu, 'it is dead' (nq, it; tfu, dead), 

Ke (Hano Tewa, kale), 'to be strong,' 'to thrive.' Thus: nclhe, 'it is 
strong/ 'it thrives' (nq, it; Ice, to be strong, to thrive). The 
expression opposite in meaning would be winqhepi, 'it is weak' 
(wi, negative; nq, it; he, to be strong; pi, negative). 

He, 'to be sick.' Thus: nqhe, 'it is sick' (nq, it; he, to be sick). 
The expression opposite in meaning would be winqhepi, 'it is 
well' (wi, negative; nq, it; he, to be sick; pi, negative). 

Worms, Gall-balls 

Puftse, 'worm.' This applies to all kinds of worms. Thus: Fumpuise, 

'corn worm' (h'uy, corn; pu'bse, worm). 
Pubsen^y, 'cobweb-like nest of worms as seen in apple trees' (pufise, 

worm; nsey, nest). These are carefully destroyed. 
Pufisebe, 'gall-ball,' literally 1 worm-ball' (puftse, worm; be, small 
thing roundish like a ball). Be is used alone in the same sense. 
Thus in Hano Tewa: p'umele, 'rabbit-brush ball' (p K( a, rabbit- 
brush; mele, Hano dialectic form of be, ball). 
; Ottofio, ' red swelling on willow leaf. ' This word can not be analyzed. 
It is also the Tewa name of Dorotea Pino of San Ildefonso. 
Of a worm-eaten plant one may say: nqpu^homu, 'it is worm- 
eaten' (nq, it; 2?ut)se, worm; ho, eaten; my,, to be). 

Chemically Changed Vegetal Matter 

P'ahi, 'charcoal.' 

At Santa Clara charcoal is taken in hot water as a remedy for cough 
and sore throat; the hot water is poured on and the mixture stirred 
and allowed to settle. The water is then drunk. 

For laryngitis pinon charcoal top'a'u (to, pinon nut; p*a>u, charcoal) 
is wrapped in a wet cloth, which is then tied about the throat as a 
compress. 

Charcoal in water is taken for biliousness. 

Kup ahi, 'coal,' literally 'stone charcoal' (leu, stone; p K d?u, charcoal). 

Kup'a'uhvjse, 'bitumen,' literally 'stone charcoal gum' (ku, stone; 
pa? n, charcoal; hw%, gum). A Santa Clara informant, when he 
happened to see some coal tar at Santa Fe, gave the name as 
polcxny, but this name is usually applied to mica. 

28 



ROBBINS, HARRINGTON 
FREIRE-MARRECO 



'] ETIIN0B0TANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 29 



JVw, 'ashes.' 

Ashes are stirred into the dough for making buwa (waferbread, 
Spanish guallabe) and buwa Team (corn tortillas), in order to turn it 
blue. At Hano the ashes of a wild plant, 'ia'j%y ( Atriplex canescens) 
are preferred, but at the end of the winter, when the supply runs 
short, the ashes of sheep's dung are substituted. 

Ashes of corncobs are boiled with white corn in order to make it 
swell. Fray Juan de Escalona in his private report from San Gabriel 
(Chamita), 1st October, 1601, refers probably to a similar practice; he 
says that the Indians, having been robbed of their corn, are eating- 
wild seeds mixed with charcoal. 1 

At Santa Clara warm ashes are rubbed on to relieve pain in the 
shins, attributed to cold. Ny,po, 'ash water' (ny,, ashes; po. water) 
is given to children as a medicine. 

At Santa Clara and at San Ildefonso, when children have measles 
ashes are dusted over the eruption with a cloth to sooth the irritation. 
Hence the malady is called nukewe (nu, ashes; kewe, ). 

At the time of the Spanish advent ashes were mixed with adobe 
for building material. 

Torquemada's informant mentions the use of ashes in signaling: 
"They [the Pueblo Indians] know of their enemies' approach from far 
off, and in order that the neighboring pueblos may come to their aid, 
the women go up to the top of their houses and throw ashes into the 
air, and behind this make a smothered fire so that by giving a thicker 
smoke it may be better seen by the other pueblos whose help they 
desire, and the women, striking their hands on their open mouths, 
raise a great cry which sounds loud and far off . . ." 

Castafio de Sosa, in 1590, described the throwing of ashes, perhaps 
in token of defiance: "The lieutenant went back to the pueblo to 
parley with them again, and they would not; on the contrary an 
Indian woman came out on a balcony of the said houses, which are as 
much as four or five stories high, and threw a small amount of ashes 
at him, and at this they set up a great clamor, and he withdrew." 2 



1 Torquemada, Monarchia Indiana, lib. v, p. 672. 
Woe. de Jndias, xv, p. 229. 



COLOR OF PLANTS 

Light, Darkness, Color, Painting, Lines, Spots 

Ki, 'to be light.' Thus: ndhinq, 'it is light' (nd, it; hi, to be light; 
nd,, present). This verb seems to refer only to daylight. 

T % e (Hano Tewa, fele), 'to shine.' Thus: ndfend, 'it shines' (nd, it; 
fe, to shine; nd, present). This verb is used of the sun: ndfanfe, 
'the sun shines' (nd, he; fay, sun; fe, to shine). 

Ko, 'a light.' This noun is used of the light of a candle, lamp, lan- 
tern, fire, firefly, glowworm, etc. Of the light shining one may 
say: ndhofe, 'the light shines' (nd, it; ho, alight; fe, to shine) ; or 
ndhohe, 'the light is bright' (nd, it; ho, a light; he, to be strong). 

PcCaJii or pa? age, 'sunny place,' 'sunny side of a pueblo' (pd?a,% akin 
to Jemez pe, 'sun'; ge, locative). 

JCyy, 'to be dark.' Thus: ndtiynnq,, 'it is dark' (nd, it; h'yy, to be 
dark; nd, present). K K yy is used as an adjective in the form 
h'uywl (h'y, to be dark). Thus: poh K uywVi H , 'dark hole' (po, 
hole; h'yywl, dark). 

^OFsey, 'shade,' 'shadow.' 

Jfsennuge or hseniyge, 'shady place,' 'shady side of a pueblo' (hsey, 
cf. 'ok'sey, above; nuge, *iyge, at the side). 

' Ofsa, 'glittering.' Thus: leu 'ofsaH H , 'glittering stone' (leu, stone; 
'otsa, glittering). 

' Otsapi, 'dull,' 'glossy' ('otsa, glittering;^*, negative). The usage 
of this term with the meaning 'glossy' is curious. Thus: '& 
'ofsapi'iy, 'glossy cloth' ('$, cloth; ^otsa, glossy). 

There is no word meaning 'color.' One asks: hawVdy ^ybi hdbaju 
^ymmy, 'how is your horse?', meaning 'what color is your horse?' 
(haAvVdy, how; ^ybi, of you 1; hdbaju, horse; \y, it with reference 
to you 1; my, to be). If this is not definite enough one might follow 
the question with ha ptfi?* ha ts%H H , 'is it red or is it white?' (ha, or; 
pi, red; ha, or; Use, white). 

T(V^y (Hano Tewa, fa), 'painted,' 'painting.' Thus: ndf-dnimy,' it is 

painted' (nd, it; UV^y, painted; m,y, to be); hJba t(Vsydii H , 'painted 

cliff' (ioia, cliff; td^y, painted). 
Ty, 'spotted.' The attributive form is fyw\(fy, spotted). Thus: 

ndfymy, 'it is spotted' (nd, it; fy, spotted; my, to be); tsefywi H , 

'spotted dog' (tse, dog; fyw\, spotted). 
30 



ROBBINS, HARRINGTON 
FREIRE-MARItECO 



ON '] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 31 



Pindu (Hano Tewa, pintu), 'spotted' (< New Mexican Span, pinto). 
Meaning and use are the same as those of t\i, Thus: tsepindu'i H , 
'spotted dog' (tse, dog; pin^u, spotted). 

Qwaua, qwiA, (Hano Tewa, fcwselse), 'line,' qwadl referring to a broad 
line and qwi^l to a narrow line. 

Color Adjectives 

Tsse, 'white,' 'whiteness.' Thus: ndtssemy, 'it is white' (nq, it; tsse, 
white; my, to be); pdbltssg\y, 'white flower' (pobl, flower; tsse, 
white) . 

P'ey, 'black,' 'blackness.' Thus: nqp'emmy, 'it is black' (nq, \i',p\y, 
black; my, to he);poblp'e,n > iy, 'black flower' (pobl, flower; p'ey, 
black). 

Pi (Hano Tewa, pHU), 'red,' 'redness.' Thus: nqpim.y, 'it is red' 
(nq, it; pi, red; my,, to be); pdbl p?iy, 'red flower' (pobl, flower; 
pi, red). 

Tse, 'yellow,' 'yellowness.' The attributive forms are tscjl H , tsejViy. 
Thus: natsemy, 'it is yellow ' (nq, it; fse, yellow; my, to be); pdbl 
tsejViy^ 'yellow flower' (pobl, flower; tsejl, yellow). 

Tsqywse, 'blue,' 'blueness,' 'green,' 'greenness.' In tsqywse, 'hot,' 
the second syllable is lower than the first. Tsqywse, is applied 
to the sky, vegetation, unripe fruit, blue or green stones, 
turquoise, etc. Thus: nqtsqywsemu, 'it is blue or green' (nq, it; 
tsqywse, blue or green; my, to be); pobl tsqywse 'iy , 'blue or green 
flower' (pdbl, flower; tsqywse, blue or green). 

Posiwl, 'watery green,' 'watery greenness' (po, water; si, ? to stink; 
wl, unexplained. Cf. Posi, Ojo Caliente). Posiwl is applied to 
water of greenish appearance, as that of the mineral spring at Ojo 
Caliente, Taos county, New Mexico; also to cloth and paint of 
similar color. Thus: nqposiwbnu, 'it is watery green 5 (nq, it; 
posiwi, watery green; my, to be); po posiwVi H , 'greenish water' 
(po, water; posiwl, watery green). 

'A, 'brown,' 'brownness.' The attributive form is \lwl. Thus: 
ncVqmy, 'it is brown' (nq, it; 'a, brown; my, to be); pobl 
''qvjViy, 'brown flower' (pdbl, flower; ^qwl, brown). 

Ho, 'gray,' 'grayness.' The attributive form is howl. Thus: 
nqhomy, 'it is gray' (nq, it; ho, gray; my, to be); pobl howViy, 
'gray flower' (pdbl, flower; howl, gray). 
Hano Tewa ''okju, 'glimmering,' 'grayish;' ''olcjutse, 'grayish yel- 
lowness,' was used, for instance, in referring to the fir tree. 

Tsseto, 'buff,' 'buffness.' The attributive form is the same. Thus: 
nqtsseto'my 'it is buff' (nq, it; tsseto, buff; my, to be); pdbl 
tssetdiy, 'buff flower' (pdbl, flower; tsseto, buff). 



32 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



Kq 'buff-brown,' 'buff-brown color.' The attributive form is the 
same. Thus: mjhcnny, ' it is buff -brown' (nd, it; M, buff-brown; 
my, to be); pdbl kcViy 'buff-brown flower' (poVi, flower; led, 
buff -brown). 

Tssgge, 'man} T -colored,' 'all-colored,' 'variegated,' 'state of having" 
man} 7 , all, or variegated colors,' 'iridescent,' 'iridescence.' 
The colors may be distributed in separate patches, or blent. 
£ 4 When we look at a crow feather and its color seems to be chang- 
ing all the time, black, green, and red, we say: nlitssegemy, 'it 
is iridescent'" (nd, it; tssege, man} T -colored, iridescent; my, to 
be). Thus: pohl tssege'iy, 'many-colored flower' (pdth, flower; 
tssege, many-colored). The Tewa name of Gregorita Vigil of San 
Ildefonso is Tssegepdbi, 'flowers of many-coloredness' (tssege, 
many-coloredness; pdb\, flower). There is a clan at San Ildefonso 
called ICyy tssege^iy Iowa, 'Many-colored Corn clan' (Jcyy. corn; 
tssege, man3 T -colored; towa, person, people). 

Tsemsegi, 'of many kinds,' 'state of being of many kinds,' 'many- 
colored,' 'many-coloredness.' Meaning and usage are the same 
as those of tssege, except that tsemsegi never refers to iridescence 
and often does not refer to color. Thus: ndtsems^gimy, 'it is 
of many kinds' (nd, it; tsemsegi, of many kinds; my, to be); 
pdb\ tsemsegi iy, 'flower of manj T kinds of color' (pribi, flower; 
tsemse,gi, of many kinds). 

Color-adjective Compounds 

Almost an} T two color adjectives may be compounded to denote 
an intermediate color. Thus: tsqyvjseho, 'bluish gray' (tsdytvse, blue, 
green; ho, gray); tsetsdywse, 'yellowish blue' (the, } T ellow; tsdyirse, 
blue), said of the color of the middle of a tufted-eared squirrel's back. 
'Light' is usually rendered by postpounding tsse, 'white'; 'dark' by 
postpounding pey, 'black.' Thus: tsetsse, 'light yellow' (the, yellow; 
tsse, white); pip£y, 'dark red' (pi, red; peg, black). But certain 
color adjectives are never compounded with certain others. Thus: 
pifsse (pp, red; tsse, white) is never used, a compound of irregular 
meaning signifying 'light red.' This compound is pPd, 'light red,' 
'pink,' literally 'red brown' (pi, red; '$, brown). Pid is applied 
to pink corn and even to objects of a buff-yellow color! Tsstfd (tsse, 
white; \i, brown) is said of whitish corn. It may be that '</ in pPd 
and th%?4 has merely a weakening force like ish in Eng. 'reddish,' 
'whitish.' 'Jl seems not to be postpounded to other color adjectives. 

Hano Tewa, fylygi, fyly, 'many -colored.' 1 Thus, in the war song: 

Uylympdbi pojo pdb\ Selzse pdbl htrsely poVi pHlPq fylygi. 

i Corn flower, squash flower, cotton flower, kwqilii flower, red-gray (and) many-colored. The fur of 
a rabbit is described as t'ulu' j. 



f r e ir e - m a k itKC.'o' ^* ^ ' J ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 33 

Color- adjective Modifiers 

Jo, augmentative postpound, 'very,' 4 intensely.' Thus: fiijo, very 
red (pi, red; jo, augmentative); nqpijomy, 'it is very red' 
(nq, it; pi, red; jo, augmentative; my, to be); pdtib pijo'iy, 
'intensely red flower' (pdbi, flower; pi, red; jo augmentative). 
Jo can not be postjoined to any color adjective the attributive 
form of which ends in wl. Thus it can not be added to ¥y, tfy, 
a, ho. T'ujo is the name of the "Black Mesa" north of San 
Ildefonso pueblo, but has no other meaning. 

KoMdi, 'very.' This precedes the color adjective as a separate 
word. Thus: Jco^i^i nqphny, 'it is very red' (Jco^idi, very; 
nq, it; pi, red; my, to be); poVi ho<iidi pi'iy, 'very red flower' 
(pdtii, flower; IcoMi, very; pi, red). 

Hs&waqh, 'very.' This precedes the color adjective as a separate 
word. Thus: hsewaal nqpimy, 'it is very red' (h%waal, very; 
nq, it; pi, red; my, to be); jpdb\ h%waai pi\y, 'very red flower' 
(pdhi, flower; h%tvaai, very; pi, red). 

Pkvqy, 'very,' 'too.' This precedes the color adjective as a separate 
word. Thus: piwqy nqpimy, 'it is very red' (piwqy, very; 
ncl, it; pi, red; my, to be); pdb\ piwqy p£\y, 'very red flower' 
(pdbl, flower; piwqy, very; pi, red). 
Hano Tewa, Hmo, 'veiy.' Thus: Hmo nqtsqyw%my, 'it is very blue 
or green' (Hmo, augmentative; ml, it; tsqywse, blue, green; my, to be); 
Hmo nqfamy, 'it is highly decorated,' 'it is variegated' (Hmo, aug- 
mentative; nq, it; fa, variegated; my, to be). 

He, 'somewhat,' 'slightly,' 'a little.' This precedes the color adjec- 
tive as a separate word. Thus: he nqphny, 'it is somewhat 
red' (he, somewhat; nq, it; pi, red; my, to be); jpdh\ he pi'iy, 
'somewhat red flower' (jjofil, flower; he, somewhat; pi, red). 



OTHER QUALITIES OF PLANTS 

Size 

Sqjo, 'large.' Thus: ndsdyomy, 'it is large' (nd, it; sd'jo, large; 
my, to be). The attributive forms are irregular: stfjo, an., 
rnin. sing.; sq^y, sq^niy, veg. sing., an., veg., niin. dual, an. 
3+ plu. ; sq > 2ruli H , veg., min. 3+ plu. 

Ilehsenun, 'large.' Thus: nqheheznumy, 'it is large' (wg, it; hehsenu, 
large; mw, to be). The attributive forms are irregular: heh%- 
nu\i H , an., min. sing.; he'ehse^niy, veg. sing., an., veg., min. 
dual, an. 3+ plu.; heh^^di H , veg., min. 3+ plu. 

He, 'large.' Thus: ndhemu, 'it is large' (nd, it; he, large; my, to 
be). The attributive forms are irregular: heH H , an., min. sing.; 
he'eniy, veg. sing., an., veg., min. dual, an. 3+ plu.; hdedi H , veg., 
min. 3+ plu. 

Jo, augmentative postpound. This is used very irregularly only 
with certain adjectives and nouns. It seems to be the last 
syllable of an., min. sing, stfjo, 'large.' 

Tfse, 'small.' Thus: ndtf semy, 'it is small' (nd, it; tfx, small; my, 
to be). This word is used only in the singular: tfq?i H , an., 
min., sing.; tfse'iy, veg. sing. The dual and 3+ plu. forms are 
supplied by hin%, tajedi, etc. ; see below. 

Ilinse, 'small.' Thus: ndhiflxmy, 'it is small' (nq, it; Kinse^ small; 
my, to be). The attributive forms are irregular. Thus: hinse > i H , 
an., min. sing.; Min\y, veg. sing., an., veg., min. dual, an. 3+ 
plu.; hiHndH H , veg., min. 3+ plu. 

Taj&ii, 'small.' Thus: ndtaj&Hmy, 'it is small' (n(i, it; taje^i, small; 
my, to be). The attributive forms are irregular: tajeJ>?i H , an., 
min. sing.; tajejidPiy, veg. sing., an., veg., min. dual, an. 3+ plu.; 
tajejidviri4i H , veg., min. 3+ plu. 

9 J^f diminutive postpound. This may be added to any noun. Thus: 
^aqsyo'e, 'little star' ^agojo, star; V, diminutive). It does not 
alter the gender of the noun. The accent of V in the sing, is 
falling; in the dual and 3+ plu., circumflex. 

34 



SiRE-MrBEM?o GT ° N '] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 35 

Taste 

T/4, 4 to taste,' intransitive. Thus: hqnnqtfq, 'how does it taste?' 
(hay, how; nq, it; tfq, to taste); hiwqn nqtfq, 'it tastes good' 
(hiwqy, good; nq, it; tfq, to taste); hqyw%bo'° winqtfqpi, 'it 
has no taste' (hqyw%bo'°, nothing; wi, negative; nq, it; tfq, to 
taste; pi, negative). 

'A, 'to be sweet', 'sweet', 'sweetness.' Thus: nq'q, 'it is sweet' 
(nq, it; 'q, to be sweet); ha 'q'iy, 'sweet leaf (Tea, 'leaf; 'q, 
sweet); 'dkihinqtfq, 'it tastes insipid' ('g, sweet; lc{hi, like; nq, 
it; tfq, to taste). 

Ts\y, 'to be sticky.' This is also said of taste. Thus: nqtsiy, 'it is 
sticky' (nq, it; tsiy, to be sticky). 

' Ojohe, 'to be sour,' 'sour,' 'sourness.' Thus: nq' ojohe, 'it is sour' 
(nq, it; 'ojohe, to be sour); be ' ojohe' iy, 'sour apple' (he, apple; 
'ojohe, sour). 

' Oje, 'to be sour,' 'sour,' 'sourness.' Thus: nq'oje, 'it is sour' (nq, 
it; 'oje, to be sour); be 'oje'iy, 'sour apple' (be, apple; 'oje, sour). 

P'ahqy, 'to be burnt.' This is also said of taste. Thus: nqp'ahqy, 
'it is burnt,' ' it has a burnt taste' (nq, it; pahqy, to be burnt; 
Ger. angebrannt sein). 

'I'%, 'to be bitter,' 'bitter,' 'bitterness.' Thus: nq'i'%, 'it is bitter' 
(nq, it; 'i'%, to be bitter); ha 'i'%'iy, 'bitter leaf (ha, leaf; 'i'%, 
bitter). 

See, 'to be hot or burning to the taste, like chile pepper,' 'hot or 
burning to the taste,' ' hot or burning taste,' ' substance which has a 
hot or burning taste.' Thus: nclsx, 'it tastes burning, like chile, 
(nq, it; s%, to be hot or burning to the taste); ha s%'iy, 'leaf with 
hot or burning taste' (Jca, leaf; s%, hot or burning to the taste). 

Suwh, 'to be warm,' 'warm,' warmth.' Thus: nqsuwa, 'it is warm,' 
'it has a warm taste' (nq, it; suioa, to be warm); ha suwh' iy, 
'warm leaf (ha, leaf; smva, warm). 

Tsqyw%, 'to be hot,' 'hot,' 'heat.' Thus: nqtsqywee, 'it is hot,' 'it 
has a hot taste' (nq, it; tsqyw%, hot); ha tsqyw%?iy, 'hot leaf (ha^ 
leaf; tsqywse, hot). 

' Oha*<?i, 'to be cool,' 'cool,' 'coolness,' 'to be cold,' 'cold,' 'coldness.' 
Thus: nq'oha-il, 'it is cool or cold,' 'it tastes cool or cold' (nq, it; 
'ohaJi, to be cool or cold); ha 'ohaJb'iy, 'cool or cold leaf (ha, 
leaf; 'ohaJi, cool or cold). This word is never applied to the 
weather. 



36 BUREAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 55 

'As%, 'to taste salty, or alkaline' ('g, alkali; s%, to taste hot, like 
chile). A also appears as the first syllable of ^q)ns§, ' salt ' ('g, alkali ; 
nse, as in leunse, turquoise). Thus: nq?qss&, 6 it tastes salty or alka- 
line' (nd, it; alkali; sse, to taste hot, like chile). 

A prickling or puckering taste seems to be expressed by 'sojohe, ^oje 
or sse. Of a nauseating taste one says merely, dihewd' , ' it makes me 
sick' (di, it me; he, to be sick;- wo' , causative). 

Odor 

Sy, 'to smell,' intransitive. Thus: hqnnqsy, 'how does it smell?' (hqy, 
how; nd, it; sy, to smell); hdywsebc? wind sypi, 'it has no odor' 
(hdyiosebo? , nothing; wi, negative; nd, it; sy, to smell; pi, nega- 
tive). This verb appears in all terms denoting kinds of odor. Thus: 
ndsyhe, 'it smells strong' (nq,, it; sy, to smell; he, to be strong); 
heJ>a? a r) ndsy, 'it smells faintly' (heda^y, slight; nd, it; sy, to smell); 
na'dsy, 'it smells sweet' (nd, it; 'g, sweet; sy, to smell); nqsisy, 'it 
stinks' (nd, it; si, giving the meaning to stink; sy,, to smell). 

Nouns with the postfix wag.1, 'like,' are very common with sy, 'to 
smell.' Thus: sawagl ndsy, 'it smells like tobacco' (sa, tobacco; 
wagl, like; nd, it; sy, to smell). 

Feeling 

Arise, 'to be smooth,' 'smooth,' 'smoothness.' Thus: notarise, 'it is 
smooth' (nd, it; ^dnse, to be smooth); ha^qns^iy, 'smooth leaf 
(ha, leaf; ^ arise, smooth). 

Ko, 'to be rough,' 'rough,' 'roughness.' Thus: nqho, 'it is rough' 
(nd, it; ho, to be rough); '0 &<?'<!>', 'rough metate' ('0, metate; Ico, 
rough). 

'cracked,' 'cracked surface.' Thus: ndpamy, 'it is cracked or 
chapped' (nd, it; cracked; m^, to be); ha paHy, ' cracked leaf ' 
(ha, leaf; pa?\y, cracked). 

Ts\, 'to be sticky.' Thus: ndts\, 'it is sticky' (nd, it; to be 
sticky). 

Tsffie, 'sticky,' 'stickiness.' Thus: n&tsffieio, 'it is sticky' (nd, it; 
tsibe, sticky; to, causative); ha ts&e'iy 'sticky leaf (ha, leaf; 
tsffie, sticky). 

P K o, 'hairy,' 'hair.' Thus: nqp'omy, 'it is hairy' (nd, it', p'o, hairy; 
my, to be). 

Ifw%, 'thorny,' 'thorn.' Thus: ndywsemy, 'it is thorny' (nd, it; 
ij<nr., thorny; my, to be). 

Jyy, 'to pierce.' Thus: ndjyy, 'it pierces' (nd, it; jyy, to pierce); 
nnjynto, 'it is prickly' (nd, it; ^2?, to pierce; to, causative). 



ROBBINS, HARRINGTON 
FREIRE-MARRIiCO 



ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 37 



Sqyhe, 'to hurt' (sqy, giving the meaning to hurt, to pain, intransitive; 
he, to be sick). Thus: nq sqyhe, 'it hurts' (nq, it; say he, to hurt). 

Suwa, 'to be warm,' 'warm,' 'warmth.' Thus: nq suwa, 'it is 
warm' (nq, it; suwa, to be warm). 

Tsqyw%, 'to be hot,' 'hot,' 'heat.' Thus: na tsaywse, 'it is hot' 
(nq, it; tsqywse,, to be hot); lea tsdywse'iy, 'hot leaf (ha, leaf; 
tsdywse, hot). 

'Oha<ii (Hano Tewa, ^oha^b) 'to be cold,' 'cold,' 'coldness.' Thus: 
nq?oha<i\, 'it is cold' (nq, it; ^oha^l, to be cold); Jca ^oha^iy, 'cold 
leaf (ha, leaf; 'oha^l, cold). Tsqywse, and suwa may be used of 
things hot to the touch; the same expressions, also nqti, 'it is 
cold,' are applied to the weather; J oha<ii cannot properly be used 
with reference to the weather. 

ife (Hano Tewa, &6^6 J ), 'hard,' 'hardness.' Thus: nqhemu, 'it is hard' 
(nq, it; he, hard; mu, to be). 

TxVi, 'to be soft,' 'soft,' 'softness.' Thus: nqtsefil, 'it is soft' (nq, it; 
tseM, to be soft); ha tsgbViy, 'soft leaf (ha, leaf; txWi, soft). 

ICa (Hano Tewa, Vala), 'to be heavy, "heavy,' 'weight.' Thus: nqFa, 
'it is heavy' (nq, it; Fa, to be heavy); ha Fa?\y, 'heavy leaf (ha, 
leaf; Fa, heavy). Light, opposite of heavy, is expressed by the 
negative winqFapi, 'it is light' (wi, negative; nq, it; Fa, to be 
heavy; jpi, negative); ha Fapi^iy, 'light leaf (ha, leaf; Fa, heavy; 
2>i, negative). 

Wetness and Dryness 

Po, 'water.' Thus: nqponq, 'it is wet' (nq, it; po, water; nq, to be 
present, to have); nqpomu, 'it is wet' (nq, it; po, water; mu, to 
be). 

'Omu, 'moisture.' Thus: nq'omunq, 'it is moist' (nq, it; x omu, 
moisture; nq, to be present, to have). 

Pose (Hano Tewa, posele), 'dew' (po, water; se, unexplained). Thus: 
nqposenq, 'it is dewy,' said either of an object or of the weather 
(nq, it; pose, dew; nq, to be present, to have). 

Ta, 'to be dry,' 'dry,' 'dryness.' Thus: nqta, 'it is dry' (nq, it; la, 
to be dry); nqtanq, 'it is dry' (nq, it; ta, dryness; nq, to be 
present, to have). 
67961°— Bull. 55—16 1 



ANNOTATED LIST OF PLANTS 



I. Indigenous Wild Plants 

The use of wild plants is declining, and very many foods, once 
popular, are now neglected. Villages, families, and individuals vary 
in this respect, and one informant speaks of the use of a certain plant 
in the present while another limits it to the past. The prejudice of 
the New Mexican Tewa against American drugs has preserved fairly 
well until now their knowledge of the plants which they use as 
remedies. At Hano, however, the decline in native medicine is 
already far advanced. 

TREES 

T^njo, 'large tubes' {toy, tube; jo^ augmentative). 

Abies concolor. White Fir, Balsam Fir. 
The twigs are said to have been used for making pipestems. 1 
The kw%, ' balsam,' ' resin,' from the pimples found on the main stem 
and larger branches is used in the treatment of cuts. 

The Fir clan (Tinjotowa) 2 of Hano is seemingly named after this 
tree. The Tewa of Hano are unable to describe the t^njo, which, they 
say, is not found within their present local range; but they speak of 
it as a tree common in the old Tewa country. The Fir clan is classed 
with the Cloud and Water clans; also with the Bear clan {Ketowa) and 
the Stick or Plant clan (P'eiowa), and bestows 'bear' and 'stick' per- 
sonal names as well as names of its own, as: 

t&ijot falci, 'fir bunch.' M. 

tsdyw%, 'green.' F. 

'awotsqywse,, 'spread green.' F. 

'olcjufse, ' glaucous yellowness.' F. 

Icalatsay, ' new leaf.' F. 

toxej), ' nut man.' M. 

Tdj&ii (te\ unexplained; j&ii, ? to sift). 

Negundo interius. Box-elder. New Mexican Spanish nogal. 
Pipe-stems were made of the twigs of this tree. „ 
The seeds of this tree are called te'j'Uipofti, 'box- elder flowers' 

{tejUi, box-elder; pobl, flower), because of their winged, flower-like 

appearance (fig. 1). 

Tfy>y (possibly akin to tf y,we, to dye). 
Alnus tenuifolia. Alder. 

'Young leaves of ? Abies concolor are ritually smoked in stone "cloud-blowers" by the Hopi. 
(See specimen 66057, Stanley McCormick Coll., Field Museum, Chicago.) 

2('f. V. W. Hodge, Pueblo Indian Clans (Amer. Anthr., ix, p. 350, 1896)— " Tenyo-hano " [-fowa], 
"Pine" clan of Hano; also J. Walter Fewkes, Nineteenth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pt. 2, p. 615— 
" Tenyuk," Hano "Pine" clan. 
38 



bobbins, hareington,-] E THNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 39 

FREIRE~aIARRI%CO _j 

The bark of the tree, dried and ground fine, is boiled until it becomes 
red. When the liquid is cool, deerskin is soaked over night, and 
then is dyed red. Sometimes the bark is chewed and the juice is eject- 
ed on deerskin, which is then rubbed between the hands. Many of 
the alders have been used by noncivilized peoples in dyeing. 

P\nndg\n teivabe, 'mountain Tewa-fruit' (piy, mountain; n%, 
locative; tewa, Tewa; be, roundish fruit). Cf. tewabe, 'Tewa 
fruit,' Sericotheca dumosa. 

Betula fontinalis. Streamside Birch. 

P'eke'iy, 'hard stick' (p'e, stick; he, hard). 
Celtis reticulata. Hackberry. ?New Mexican Spanish polo duro. 
The Tewa and Spanish names are descriptive of the character of the 
wood. Whether the Tewa name is merely a translation of the Span- 
ish remains to be determined. Handles for axes and hoes are now 
made of the wood. 

The berries were eaten. 

IIu. 

Juniperus monosperma. One-seeded Juniper. New Mexican 
Spanish sabina. 

This is the "common cedar" of the Rio Grande region. It is used 
largely for firewood by the New Mexican Tewa and also at Hano. 




Fig. 2.— Santa Clara bow. 



The bark is called either huqwibe (hu, juniper; qtvite, shreddy bark); 
at Hano, liuqwi (hu, juniper; qwi, fiber); or hy>¥owa(/iu, juniper; k'owa, 
tegument, bark). It is in daily use as tinder and kindling material. 
Formerly it was used as tinder in conjunction with flint and steel. 
Folk-tales at Hano represent that it would ignite merely from the heat 
of the sun. Long shreds of this bark, bound into compact bundles 
by means of p'aqioi, 'yucca fiber' (p'a, Yucca baccata; qwi, fiber), 
were formerly used as torches to give light in the houses and to carry 
light from house to house. At Hano the bark is used also to chink 
the walls and roofs of log houses built after the Navaho fashion. 

In New Mexico the wood was used for making bows (see fig. 2). 
Small ceremonial bows of cedar branches, provided with yucca strings, 
are carried by some hatsina at Hano, for instance, during the Jcawotfo. 



40 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



At Santa Clara the leaves, liyka (hy,, juniper; fca, leaf), are used by 
women the third day after childbirth. The leaves are boiled in water; 
a little cold water is added, and the decoction is set beside the patient, 
TV ho is left alone for a short time. She rises and bathes herself with 
the decoction and also drinks a small quantity. At San Ildefonso the 
treatment is the same, except that a woman stays to assist her to bathe. 1 

At Hano a lying-in woman is fumigated on the fourth day after 
delivery with hukala, juniper leaves (hy,, juniper; kola, leaf), placed on 
hot coals in a vessel; some families use another plant, but juniper is 
probably the one generally employed. Formerly the lying-in woman 
drank an infusion of juniper leaves during the first four days after 
delivery; but now, following the Hopi custom, she drinks plain warm 
water for twenty days. 2 

The juniper is regarded as 4 4 hot," and almost every part of it is a 
medicine for 4 4 cold " conditions. At San Ildefonso the leaves are used 
as medicine. 

At Hano the leafy twigs, hylcala (kala, leaf), after being toasted on 
the embers, are bound tightly over a bruise or sprain to reduce the 
pain and swelling. 

At Santa Clara juniper gum, hyjcw% {kwse, gum, balsam) is used 
as a filling for decayed teeth. At Hano it is chewed as a delicacy. 

The berries, hypege (pege, berry), are eaten by children and }oung 
people. Men bring home twigs loaded with the ripe berries to please 
their young relations. The berries are considered more palatable 
when heated in an open pan over the fire. At Santa Clara juniper 
berries, as well as a decoction of them in water, are considered an 
effectual remedy for every kind of internal chill, 4 4 because they are 
hot". They are said to be an active diuretic. At San Ildefonso the 
berries are eaten but not taken as medicine. 

Juniper branches are used in a few ceremonies and dances. At 
Hano they are sometimes used as a hasty substitute for tsele (see p. 43) ; 
for instance, tsonekatsina from Hano and Sichomovi wore them on Jan- 
uaiy 25, 1913. At Santa Clara the impersonator of an 'd¥uwa called 
jyndi H sendo {jyy, thrust; scjido, old man) or hyqwipo?idi H sejido (hy, 
juniper; qwi, fiber; po, head; sejido, old man) wears a hat of juniper 
bark as a headdress. 3 

1 M. C. Stevenson, The Zuni Indians, Twenty-third Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 297: "Hot tea of 
toasted juniper twigs and berries steeped in boiling water is drunk by a woman in labor to prevent 
constipation." See also this author's Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians, Thirtieth Ann. Rep. Bur. 
Amer. Ethn., p. 55. 

2The Yavapai at McDowell, Ariz., who now use the leaves and twigs of the creosote bush (? Larrea 
glutinosa) to steam lying-in women four days after childbirth, and also drink a decoction of the 
leaves as a remedy for internal chill, say that they used juniper (tjoka) for these purposes as long as 
they lived in the mountains. 

z The impersonator of kwikwiljaka, "one of the older Hopi kachinas now seldom seen," wears a 
similar mat of juniper bark. See tihu of this kachina in Field Museum, Chicago (McCormick Coll., 
65757 J. 



™^i^^^, R ^ GTON, l ETMNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 41 

Ilupohl, 'Juniperus monosperma flower' (hu, Juniperus mono- 

sperma; pool, flower). 
IIuwo (hy,, Juniperus monosperma; wo (?)). 
Juniperus scopulorum. New Mexican Spanish cedro. 
The wood of this tree is red. 

Pseto, 'deer pinon' (p%, mule deer; to, pinon tree). 
Picea engelmanni. Engelmann Spruce. 
This tree is found at the higher elevations where deer are more 
plentiful. It is said that deer are fond of staying among these trees. 

tywxn (cognate with Jemez hwg,, Pin us brachyptera). 
Pinus brachyptera. Rock Pine, Western Yellow Pine. New 
Mexican Spanish pinavete. (See pi. 2, b.) 
At Hano two ywseylcala {ywx, rock pine; kala, leaf), 'rock-pine 
leaves,' is attached to each of the prayer-feathers, ^fe, which are pre- 
pared during the fqntai ceremonies in December. Branches of rock 
pine for this purpose are fetched by a runner. 

To (cf. to, pinon nut). 

Pinus edulis, Pinon Pine, Nut Pine. New Mexican Spanish 
pinon. 

Pinon pine is the commonest tree on the lower mesas. It is much 
used as firewood. 

The nuts, generally roasted for eating, were formerly an important 
food. After corn harvest, about October 15, many of the Santa 
Clara people go to the mountains for several days to gather pinon 
nuts. They are also bought from Mexican peddlers 1 and eaten raw 
on festive occasions. 2 The Navaho bring them for sale to Hano, as 
they do to Jemez and the Keresan pueblos, and the Indian storekeepers 
also sell them. 

At Hano the resin of the pinon, tokwx (kwse, gum, balsam), is used 
for mending cracked water-jars, also for excluding the air from cuts 
and sores. The resin of pinon or of another conifer is sometimes 
smeared over earthenware canteens to make them watertight. Com- 
pare this with the resin-coated basket canteens of southern Arizona. 

At Santa Clara to is said to be the oldest tree, and its nuts the oldest 
food of the people. It was the result of going up on the western 
mesa and eating the fallen pinon nuts that the people ''first knew 
north and west and south and east." 

Ktfqnx, 'smooth leaf (ka, leaf; ^qnse, smoothness). 
Pinus flexilis. White Pine. 

x Benavides {Memorial, 1630, pp. 47-48) says that pinon nuts from. New Mexico were traded to 
Mexico: "Los arboles de pifiones que son de diferente especie de los de Espana, porque songrandes, 
y tiernos de partir, y los arboles, y pifias chicas, y es tanta la cantidad, que parece inacawable, y de 
tanta estima, que vale la fauega en Mexico a veinte y tres, y veinte y cuatro pesos, y los que lo 
bueluen a vender ganan en ellos." 

2 Cf. Hough, Amer. Anthr., x, p. 40, Washington, 1897. 



42 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETH1*0L0GY 



[bull. 55 



Tt : nx (te, Populus wislizeni; rise, as in 'dnse, salt, and Tcunse, tur- 
quoise). 

Populus acuminata. Rydberg's Cottonwood. 
Popidus angustifolia. Narrow-leaf Cottonwood, Mountain Cot- 
tonwood. 
Nana. 

Populus tremuloides. Aspen. (See pis. 2, a, 3.) 
At San Ildefonso the leaves of this tree are boiled and the decoc- 
tion is drunk for urinary trouble. 1 

Hodge 3 gives Ndna-tdoa as a "tree (birch?)" clan at Nambe. 

Te. 

Populus wislizeni. Valley Cottonwood. 

This is the common cottonwood along the Rio Grande. The Tewa 
are more familiar with it than with any other large broad-leaved 
tree, and they use it more than any other. 3 The wood is used for 
making many artifacts, notably the tetqmbe, 'cottonwood drum' (te, 
Populus wislizeni; tqmbe, Hano Tewa, tqmmele, drum). English 
' tree ' is often translated te in case no particular species is referred to. 

Cottonwood buds are called te¥e, 'cottonwood kernels' (te, Populus 
wislizeni; Fe, kernel, grain, as kernel or grain of corn). 

The white fluff of cottonwood buds is called t&iq/rfoku, 'cotton- 
wood fluff' (te, Populus wislizeni; day, unexplained; ^olcu, downy, 
down, state of being downy). 

Hodge 4 gives as Cottonwood clans at various pueblos: San Juan, 
Santa Clara, and San Ildefonso, Te-tdoa; Cochiti, Ptrahani-hanuch. 
At Hano the Cottonwood clan, Te'e-towa, is classed with the Sacred- 
dancer clan, Katsinatowa, and the Macaw clan, Talitowa. 

Tse (Hano Tewa, fsele). 

Pseudotsuga mucronata. Douglas Spruce. New Mexican Span- 
ish pino real, 'royal pine.' 
Branches of this tree, which grows in the mountains and deep can- 
yons, are used by the Tewa in almost all their dances. For example, 
at Santa Clara, February 9, 1911, the male performers in the pogon f cute 
wore loose collars of spruce branches covering their shoulders and 
breasts, and carried spruce branches in their left hands. In the Bas- 
ket dance, tun fade (closely corresponding with the humiskatsina of 
Oraibi), held at Santa Clara, October 21, 1912, the male performers 
wore spruce branches hanging from their necks and waist-belts, while 
small twigs of spruce formed part of tbe headdress called popoVi, 

1 U. S. Dispensatory: Bark of certain species is possessed of tonic properties and has been used in 
intermittent fevers with advantage. 
2 Amer. Anthr., ix, p. 352, 189G. 

3 For the use of cottonwood in prayer-sticks see footnote, p. 49. 
* Op. cit., p. 351. 



ROBBINS, HARRINGTON 
FREIRE-MARRECO 



'] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 43 



'squash blossom.' The female performers carried sprigs of spruce in 
their right hands, concealing their wooden rasps, ywsemp'e. On the 
afternoon of the day preceding the dance the five capitanes went to 
the forest, cut eight young spruce trees, and brought them, unob- 
served, to the village; and after midnight these were planted in the 
plazas, two at each dancing place. These were referred to in the song- 
^hmse^a^vQ'onditsdyw^ind^id {jagiwo'ondi, archaic form of sagi- 
wo'oncli, beautiful; tsdyw&i, greenness, green thing; ng,, it; nd, to be 
present). Spruce branches worn or carried by dancers at Santa Clara 
are always thrown into the Santa Clara River when the dance is over. 

Certain clouds are ritually called 'spruce clouds', fse'ofcuwa, and 
their personifications are called 'spruce-cloud bo}^s', tsJoJcuivd > d e nu7)^ 
and ' spruce-cloud girls', tse^olcuwa > a' >a nuy. 

At Hano the Douglas spruce, fsele, is used in almost all the winter 
dances; the dancers wear spruce twigs made up with yucca fiber into 
compact neck- wreaths (called HmbiFselekefo, 4 their spruce neckwear,' 
or figuratively katsina Hmbiywa'a, 'kachinas' necklaces'), and also 
carry branches in their left hands, called merely Hmbitsele, 4 their 
spruce.' As no Douglas spruce grows near Hano, it is procured from 
the mountains some miles southeast or east of First Mesa. A horse- 
man leaving Hano at daybreak to fetch it returns after nightfall. 
Occasionally the Navaho bring it to Hano and barter it for corn and 
meal; thus, before the Little Fawofo in March, 1913, the Corn clan 
bought a quantity of spruce branches for the use of all the members 
of the estufa/ munatd e , which this clan controls. As a rule, however, 
when spruce is needed for a dance, a fast runner is sent to the hills to 
fetch it. Returning after dark, he carries it to the estufa, where 
feathers, jpele, are put on it; then he is asked to choose one branch, 
which is carried to the spring early next morning. During the night 
one or more large branches are planted in the plaza where the dance 
is to take place, and in the morning the children are astonished to see 
trees growing there. Spruce branches used in the dances are thrown 
from the edge of the mesa when the dance is over, or dropped in some 
appropriate place among the rocks, for instance behind the Jcojete^ 
'fetish house,' at Tdbatsana, 'the Gap.' 

Occasionally juniper twigs and branches (hukala; see p. 40) are 
substituted for spruce. 2 

The New Mexican Tewa say that mankind first climbed into this 
world by means of a tree of this species, at Sifiop'e in the far north. 
The Tewa of Hano say that when the chiefs wished to make a way for 

1 Estufa, the name given by the Spanish explorers to the sunken dance-houses or club-houses of the 
Pueblo Indians and the name current at the present time in New Mexico: Hopi kWa; Tewa te'e, and 
po'qste'e, the latter probably meaning 'old-time house,' etc. 

2Cf. W. Matthews, The Mountain Chant, Fifth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 464. The Navaho 
ritual requires spruce saplings (Pseudotsuga Douglasii), but as the spruce does not grow plentifully 
at a height of less than 8,000 feet, pinon saplings are sometimes substituted. 



44 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



their people to the upper world, they planted first a tenjo, White Fir, 
and next a tsele ; when both of these failed to pierce the roof of the 
underworld, they planted a po, reed, and by this the people climbed 
out. This version coincides with the Oraibi and Shipaulovi stories. 1 

The New Mexican Tewa say that the stfwse, pine-squirrel, eats the 
leaves of the tse. 

Hodge 2 gives Tse-tdoa as a tree clan at San Ildefonso. 

Tenu^vo 'winter oak' (teniui, winter; hiose, oak). 

Quercus undulata. Evergreen Oak. 
This is a small evergreen species abundant on the mesa sides. 

Kivse. 

Quercus utahensis. Utah Oak. 
This is the common oak along the streams. The acorns were used 
for food. 3 The wood was used for making digging-sticks and many 
other things, including bows and war-clubs. Iron is called 7cwx1c%i7)f, 
a word co- nected with Tcwsehu, ' Mexican.' The first syllable of these 
two words sounds exactly like Jcw%, 'oak'. 

At Hano oak is used for making rabbit- sticks, embroidery-stretch- 
ers, and other utensils. 

Hodge 4 gives as Oak clans at various pueblos: Santa Clara, ; 

Pecos, Gyuu n sh; Laguna, Hdpai-hdno ch ; Acoma, Hdpanyi-hdnoq ch / 
Sia, Hdpan-hdno; San Felipe, Hdpanyi-hdno; Cochiti, Ildpanyi- 
hdnuch. 

There is an Oak clan {Kwxtowa) at Santa Clara. The Oak clan 
{KwxtovKt) at Hano has become extinct within living memory; it is 
said to have accompanied the Asa clans w r ho settled with the Hopi. 

SHRUBS 

''Antamisd (> Spanish). 

Artemisia (? sp.), New Mexican Spanish altamisa. 
One use of this plant is reported under hojaje, page 56. 

SdboVuwajie, 'mist plant' {sdbolcuwa, mist; p x e, plant). San 
Ildefonso, p'u ts&iy, c white rabbit-brush ' (p'y,, Chrysotham- 
nus bigelovii; fs%, white). 
Artemisia filifolia. Silver Sage. 
This is a favorite remedy with the New Mexican Tewa and at Hano. 
Bundles of the plant are dried for winter use. It is chewed and 
swallowed with water, or drunk in a hot decoction, as a remedy for 
indigestion, flatulence, biliousness, etc. A bundle of the plants steeped 
in boiling water and wrapped in a cloth is applied to the stomach as a 
hot compress. 

iCf. H. R. Voth, Traditions of the Hopi, pp. 10, 16. 
2 Amcr. Anlhr., IX, p. 352, 1890. 

SBenavido.N mentions acorns among the food products of the Santa Fe district. 
< Op. cit., p. 351. 



^^ S ^f»^n GT0N, l ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 45 

Artemisia filifolia, sdboVuaivape, is sometimes confused with Arte- 
misia canadensis. 

P'u fs'xHy, 'white rabbit-brush.' 
Artemisia filifolia. 
See sdboVuwap e, above. 

To. 

Artemisia tridentata. Rocky Mountain Sage, Sagebrush. New 
Mexican Spanish chamiso hediondo, "stinking greasewood," 
estafiaia, estafiate. 
The dry bushes are used for fuel where no firewood is available, as 
for example, on the journey from San J uan to Taos. 

All the New Mexican sages are used at Santa Clara in the treatment 
of indigestion, and this species, the most pungent of all, is considered 
a very effectual remedy though disagreeably strong. It is certainly 
useful in dispelling flatulence. It is also said to be a good remedy for 
a constant feeble cough with ineffectual expectoration. In both cases 
the leaves are chewed and swallowed. 

Qwse. Called also jpe keHr/ (p'e, stick, wood; ke, hard). 
Cercocarpus montanus. Mountain Mahogany. New Mexican 
Spanish palo duro, "hardwood." (See fig. 3.) 
Puqwse<i\p : <?, 'rabbit-sticks' (^jm, rabbit, cotton-tail rabbit; qwxA, 
strike; pe, stick) are made of the wood of this plant. 

The leaves of old plants, or entire young plants, are mixed with 
salt, and powdered by pounding. The mixture stirred in cold water 
is drunk as a laxative. 

Chrysothamnas bigelovii. Rabbit-brush. (See pis. 4, a, 8, b.) 
The Tewa of Hano give this name to Bigelovia bigelovii or B. graveo- 
lens. 1 Like the Ilopi, they use it largely for making wind-breaks and 
other shelters for melon plants and } 7 oung peach trees, and in dam- 
ming washes and small arroyos. The March-April moon is called 
p'ukapo, 'rabbit-brush shelter moon,' because wind-breaks and dams 
are then renewed. A mat or bundle of pfu, along with a rabbit-skin 
blanket, is used to close the hatchway of the estufa when warmth or 
privacy is desired. P*umele, ' rabbit-brush balls,' the white galls which 
appear on CJirysothamnus bigelovii or C. graveolens, are strung as beads 
and hung round babies' necks to stop their dribbling. The flowers, 
p'upob%^ are boiled to make a yellow dye for woolen yarn. 2 

1 The Hopi call Bigelovia graveolens hanoshivapi, because the Tewa of the pueblo of Hano carry great 
bundles of it for firewood. (See Hough, Amer. Anthr., vol. x, no. 2, 1897, p. 39.) 

2 The Navaho boil Bigelovia graveolens for yellow dye. (See Matthews, Third Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn., 
p. 377.) 



46 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 55 

Safcupe, 'tobacco pipe plant' (sa, tobacco; leu, stone; p*e, stick, 
plant. 

Edwinia americana. Wax Flower. 
| 

Ephedra antisyphilitica. Joint Fir. 




FiG. 3. — Mountain mahogany. 



The leaves and steins are boiled in water and the decoction is taken 
as a remedy for diarrhea. Sometimes the leaves and stems are 
chewed for the same purpose. 1 

Pontfi (of obscure etymology ;< New Mexican Spanish ponilf). 
FaWugia paradotea. Apache Plume. New Mexican Spanish 

ponil ( < Tew a \ But cf . Tewa 9 a%j?i < New Mexican Spanish 

a nil, p. 60); see plate 4, b. 

1 Teamster's Tea (Ephedra antisyphiliticaBvr\a,n(l) is used by the Pima as a beverage, and by both the 
Pima and the Mexicans as a remedy for syphilis. (See Russell, Twenty-sixth Ann. Rep. Bur. Araer. 
Ethn., p. 80.) 



ROBBrNSj HARRINGTON, 
FREIRE-MARRECO 



ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 47 



The slender branches are bound together and used as tap'eni, 
; brooms' (ta, grass; p*eni, of obscure etymology), for rough outdoor 
sweeping. 

Arrows are made of the straight slender branches. 
At San Ildefonso women steep the leaves in water until they are 
soft, and wash their hair in the infusion, to promote its growth. 

So_pa. 

Lycium pallidum. New Mexican Spanish tomatilla. 
The Hopi eat the berries of this plant. 

Pxp K ^nxb\ 'deer weed' (pse, mule deer; p£nseh\ weed). 
Pachistima myrsinites. 

IIutsindbv? u (7m, Juniperus monosperma; tsindbu >w ( ?)). 
Phoradendron jun iperinum . Mistletoe. 
This plant grows abundantly on the one-seeded junipers (see p. 39) 
in the region. It is said that deer eat it. 

It is ground, mixed with hot water, and drunk when one "feels a 
chill in the stomach." 

'Abe 1 (cf. Cochiti Keres dpo, Padus melanocarpa). 
Padus melanocarpa. Chokecherry. 

Bows are made from the wood. 

The berries are boiled and eaten or are eaten raw. 

The Jicarilla Apache grind the berries and make the meal into round 
cakes, six inches in diameter and about one inch thick; they are black- 
ish in appearance and taste sweet. The Tewa call them \cbebuwa, 
1 chokecherry bread ' (buwa, bread). Occasionally the Apache bring 
them to San Ildefonso at Christmas time. The occurrence of the 
personal name 'Abenbua' 3 at Pojoaque in 1715 suggests that \cbebuwa 
was formerly made b} r the Tewa. 

Tendeyht, apparently 'slender-tubed leaves' 3 (tey, tube; dey, 
slenderly pointed; ka, leaf). 

\Ptelea crenulata. 

Tfibatup'e, 'kid plant' 3 (tfibath, young goat < Span, chibato; 
p*e, stick, plant). The plant is so named because of its goat- 
like odor. 

Ptelea tomentosa. Hop Trefoil. 

Safti'iy, 'red tobacco' (sa, tobacco; pi, red). 

Phus cismontana. Sumac. 
The leaves were dried and smoked in pipes or made into cigarettes, 
either mixed with tobacco, sa, or alone. The Jicarilla Apache also 
smoke it. 



1 This word rhymes with Sat>e, 'Athapascan.' 

2 Spanish Archives, office of U. S. Surveyor General, Santa Fe. 

3 Identified with the Indian name from a dried .specimen only. 



48 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



Tsifu. 

Ribes sp. Gooseberry. 

Pofey, 'throws out water' (po, water; t\y, to throw out). 
The name refers to the juicy character of the plant. 

Ribes inebrians. Currant. New Mexican Spanish manzanita. 
The fruit is eaten. The wood was used for making bows. 

P'eywseHy, 'thorny plant' (p*e, stick, plant; yw%, thorn).? . 

Musap'e, ' cat plant' (musa, domestic cat; p'e, stick, plant). 
Robinia neomexicana. Locust. New Mexican Spanish una de 
gato, 6 ' cat's claw. " 
The wood was used for making bows. 

The Tewa name, musap x e, is probably due to Spanish influence; at 
least it is not pre-Spanish, for musa is not a native Tewa word, but of 
the same origin as Cochiti mosa, etc. , appearing in many Southwestern 
languages. Tewa musa is sometimes rather incorrectly applied to the 
wildcat. 

Rosa sp. Wild Rose, Garden Rose. 

At Santa Clara rose petals are dried and kept in the houses as an 
agreeable perfume. They are ground fine and mixed with grease to 
make a salve for sore mouth. 

One of the folk etymologies of K'apo, the Tewa name of the pueblo 
of Santa Clara, refers it to F«' a , ' rose,' and po, supposed to be po, 
'water,' the compound being explained as meaning 'dew.' Another, 
referring it to the same elements, explains that there '''the roses (?) 
grow b} r the water. " 1 
Jay, Hano Tewa. 
Salix sp. Willow. 

Called also jqyVili, 'bud willow' (jay, willow; It Hi, grain, bud), in 
allusion to the characteristic silvery buds. 

The catkins of willow are called 'ihipoftl, 'its flowers.' The white 
buds are jqylcili, 'willow grains.' The small male flowers are 
jayVilioku, 'bud-willow fluff or down;' 'oky, is properly 'loose 
down of a bird,' and these flowers are so called because they are easily 
detached. 

At the 1 "qntaH ceremony in December, willow twigs, apparently one 
for eacli household in the village, are prepared, a number of pele 
(feathers with ywsgkala) being tied by cotton strings to each twig. 2 
The twigs are called jqylcili. They are set up in the Fajefe to the 
cast of the village. 



1 See Harrington, Ethnogcography of the Tewa Indians, Twenty-ninth Ann. Rep. Bar. Amer. Eth., p. 241. 

2 A shrineon a hill above tin; pueblo of Jemez contains bouquets of spruce and cedar, with feathers 
of the turkey, eagle, and parrot tied to the ends of the twigs. 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 55 PLATE 3 




B. VALLE GRANDE, SHOWING WHERE GRASSLAND GIVES WAY TO SPRUCE AND ASPEN ON THE 

SLOPES. 



ttOBBiNS,HAKBiNGTON,l ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 49 

FREIRE-MARIiECO J 

JqysseH, Hano Tewa, 'sour willow' (jay, willow; sseH, sour). 
Salix, ? sp. 

"Like the ordinary willow, jay, but the bark is green, not red." 
It is used to cover roofs, prayer-sticks, and huupe, are made of it. 1 It 
grows on a hill, therefore called^GM?'*' 1 ', a few miles south of First Mesa. 
Jay. 

Salix argophylla. Willow. New Mexican Spanish jara, 
Salix irrorata. Willow. 
Jay was used for basketry 2 and many other purposes. 
Willow charcoal used as body paint is called jqm/p\y (p\y, black- 
ness, black). 

Hodge 3 gives Ya'n-tdoa as a Willow clan at Santa Clara. 

Jqnjo, 'large willow' (jay, Salix irrorata, Salix argophylla; 

jo, augmentative). 
Salix cor data. Willow. 

Kuy. 

Schmaltzia bakeri(%). Skunk-bush, Three-leaved Sumac. New 
Mexican Spanish lemita. 
Baskets were made from the stems. 
The fruit was eaten whole or ground. 

The Santa Clara people use this wood for bows, but at San Ildefonso 
it is not so used. 

Tewabe, 'Tewa fruit' (tewa, Tewa; be, roundish fruit). Cf. 

piyn&iy tewabe, 6 mountain Tewa-fruit,' Betula fontinalis. 
Sericotheca dwnosa. 
The small fruit was eaten. 

tywsejoka, 'big thorn leaf (ywse, thorn; jo, augmentative; lea, 
leaf). 

Xanthium commune. Cocklebur. 
At Santa Clara this plant is used as a remedy for diarrhea and vom- 
iting. Children are fumigated with it as a cure for urinary disorders. 
P'a (Hano Tewa, paly). 

Yucca baccata. Yucca, Spanish Bayonet. New Mexican Spanish 
datil. 

New Mexican Spanish, palmilla a?icha, amole. 

iln a large shrine on the summit of Tsikumupiys, Santa Clara Peak (see Harrington, Ethno- 
geography of the Tewa Indians, p. 125), a peak in the Jemez Mountains at the headwaters of the 
Santa Clara River, Mr. W. B. Douglass found in 1911 prayer-sticks made of willow {Salix humilis), 
Cottonwood (Populus wislizeni), box-elder (Negundo interius), and blades of sedge (Cyperus); some of 
these were decorated with goldenrod (Solidago), Gutierrezia tenuis, dropseed grass, and a herb 
of the genus Sporobolus. The shrine was visited by messengers from Santa Clara, San Juan, San 
Ildefonso, Taos, Jemez, and Cochiti. (See A World-quarter Shrine of the Tewa Indians, Records of 
the Past, vol. xi, pt. 4, pp. 159-73, 1912.) 

2 The Zuni make coarse baskets of willows, dogwood, and Chrysothamnas graveolens (Stevenson, 
The Zufii Indians, p. 373). The Hopi of Oraibi use willow twigs in the manufacture of their woven 
basket-trays, and all the Hopi use willow as material for large burden-baskets (Hano Tewa jqmmele). 

s Amer. Anthr., ix, p. 352, 1896. 



50 



BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



The roots of this plant provide an excellent lather; until the intro- 
duction of commercial soap, it was the only washing medium used by 
the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona and the New Mexican Span- 
iards, and it is still used for washing woolens, heavy native cotton 
fabrics, feathers, and human hair. After being bruised with a stone 
(generally one of the grinding stones), the roots are put into cold 
water to steep. After a few minutes they are briskly stirred and 
rubbed with the hand until a good lather is produced; the fibrous parts 
are then removed and the lather is ready for use. The lather is called 
'oYo (Hano Tewa, ^oVolo), and the name is extended to commercial 
soap. In ceremonies lather represents clouds, ^ok\uwa. 

The Tewa wash their hair about once a week, and also after per- 
forming dirty work, after a journey, and before taking part in 
ceremonies. Before a public dance all the inhabitants of a pueblo, as 
well as the actual dancers, are expected to wash their hair. At Hano 
the people wash their hair early on the morning after the conclusion 
of a series of ceremonies, whether a public dance follows or not; in 
this way the actual performers are said to "wash off their clouds." 

The Tewa of Hano, like the Hopi, accompany all ceremonies of 
adoption and name-giving by washing with yucca suds. Thus, when 
an infant is named before sunrise on the twentieth day after birth, its 
head is washed by the paternal grandmother, and each member of the 
father's clan who gives an additional name smears the child's head 
with suds. The bride is bathed by the bridegroom's mother at the 
beginning of her bridal visit to the bridegroom's house, and at the 
end of the visit, when she is about to return to her own clan-house, 
women of the bridegroom's clan wash her hair before sunrise and 
give her a new name. When a Tewa from New Mexico visits a Tewa 
clan at Hano, the women of the clan wash his hair before sunrise and 
give him a new name; formerly they also bathed him with amole 
suds. Navaho, Ute, and Apache scalps, when they were brought to 
Hano, were intrusted to the poiaH'*, who washed them before sunrise 
with amole suds and gave them the name 'agajosojo, the Morning 
Star. All these washing customs are apparently foreign to the New 
Mexican Tewa. 

Cord and rope were formerly made from the fibers of Yucca bac- 
cata. The fleshy leaves were boiled for a short time; when cool, the 
leaves were chewed and the fibers extracted and twisted into cord. 

The fruit of Yucca baccata was formerly eaten. It was called 
p'ape, 'yucca fruit' (p*a, Yucca baccata; pe, fruit), this name being 
applied to dates also on account of their resemblance to yucca fruit; 
see page 115. 

An old man at Santa Clara said that the fruit of one kind of pa, 
though excellent, was apt to cause diarrhea, and that another kind 
was eaten by women to promote easy and complete delivery. 



ROBBIXS, HARRINGTO 
FREIRE-MARKECO 



x ] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 51 



An informant from San Ildefonso described the use of pa as a ritual 
emetic; the person chews it (part not specified, possibly the root) and 
then drinks water. 

The leaves were sometimes baked and eaten by travelers when other 
provisions failed. 

Mr. A. F. Bandelier kindly allowed the writers to quote from his 
manuscript notes on the uses of yucca at Cochiti in 1882 : 

"Fishing was done in former times with long nets made of threads of palmiUa 
ancha (Yucca baccata), which were stretched across the river, weighed down by 
stones, and kept floating by gourds and inflated skins. . . . The thread of the 
palmilla ancha was prepared as follows : In May or June, the governor sent out men 
to cut the leaves of the plants and gather them in 'hands.' They dug a hole in 
the ground and kindled a large fire in it; after the ground had become thoroughly 
heated, the embers and ashes were cleared out and the leaves placed in carefully, 
covered with brush, then with stones, and finally with a layer of earth. On the 
top of this another large fire was built and left burning over night; the leaves were 
thus well baked. Then the ' hands ' were carried to the pueblo, and as the leaves 
became very sweet, the boys chewed them up, extracting the fiber, ha-tyani-go-gowen, 
which they carefully laid aside, each bundle by itself, returning it to the house 
where it belonged. That fiber was twisted into thread, and strips of netting made 
of it, which were handed to the officers and then the whole net made. It was thus 
to all intents and purposes a communal enterprise, and the proceeds were enjoyed 
in common. Fruits of the Yucca baccata are still eaten. The women went together 
to gather the fruit in September and October, baking it until the skin could be taken 
off and the fiber removed, then threw it into caxetes and mixed it thoroughly, 
boiling it alternately, until it came down to a firm jelly or paste. It was then spread 
into large cakes about 1 inch thick, and left to dry on hanging scaffolds, changing it 
from time to time until it was perfectly dry. It was then cut into squares (or, at 
Acoma and Laguna, rolled into loaves) and preserved. In spring it was eaten in 
various ways, as paste, or dissolved in -water and drunk, or tortillas and guayabes 
were dipped into the solution, thus using it like molasses or syrup." 

The fruit, sahu, of Yucca baccata, samoa, is eaten by the Hopi; its 
soapy root is called samomobi. The soapy root of Yucca angustif olia, 
mohil, is called mohiimobi. All the yucca plants are used for basketry 
and a multitude of other purposes. 1 

The Zuni paint designs on pottery with brushes made of yucca 
needles. The pigments are ground in stone mortars and made into a 
paste with water to which a sirup of yucca fruit is added. 2 They 
make yucca cord for net'ting, strings to plume offerings, etc. 3 The 
ancestors of the Zuni, Ashiwi, are said to have used bowstrings of 
yucca fiber. 4 The Zuni make a conserve of the fruit of Yucca baccata. 5 

The archeological evidence in the pueblo area shows that yucca 
strips were used to make plaited sandals and baskets resembling the 
modern pajo, and for fiber and cord generally; also that yucca fiber, 

1 J. Walter Fewkes in Amer. Anthr., ix, 1S96, p. 17. 

-M.C. Stevenson, Zuni Indians, Twenty-third Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn.,j). 375. See also this 
author's Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians, Thirtieth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., passim. 
3 Ibid., p. 113. *Ibid., p. 36. 6 ibid., p. 368. 



52 



BUEEAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



alone or in combination with cotton, was of great importance as a 
weaving material. Fur of beaver, otter, or rabbit was incorporated 
with yucca cord or twisted around it to make warmer or more orna- 
mental fabrics. 

In describing a pre-Spanish cave burial site probably of the Keres, 
just outside the Tewa domain, Dr. Edgar L. Hewett says : 1 

"The body was first wrapped in a white cotton garment . . . The outer 
wrapping was a robe of otter or beaver fur . . . made by twisting a small rope 
of yucca fiber about an eighth of an inch in diameter; then with the shredded fiber 
of the eagle or turkey feather, the fur was bound upon the cord, producing a fur 
rope of about a quarter of an inch in diameter, which was then woven into a robe 
with very open mesh. ' ' 

Numbers of fur-wrapped cords were found in a large cave higher 
up the canyon. Similar cords are now worn by the Icoshare (clowns) 
at the Keres pueblo of San Domingo. 2 

I* amy, (p'a. Yucca baccata; mu, unexplained). 
Yucca glauca. New JVIexican Spanish -palm-ilia. 
This species is smaller than the pa (Yucca baccata) , but resembles it 
considerably. 

The roots are used for making lather. The fruit is eaten as in the 
case of the pa. 

According to the informant, string and rope were never made of 
p*amu. 

Narrow slips of p~.amu are used like paint brushes in decorating 
pottery. 

The fibrous leaves of both species of yucca, merely split into narrow 
strips without twisting, serve for tying material. Thus, watermelons 
are kept fresh for winter use by hanging them from the rafters, 
encased in a network of yucca strips; sliced apples and chile peppers 
threaded on yucca strips are hung up to dry; the sif ting-baskets, 
called pajo, 'not tight, openwork, like a net' (which the Tewa of 
Santa Clara buy from Jeinez, and the Tewa of Hano from the Second 
Mesa villages), are woven of yucca strips. Bandoleers and neckties 
of knotted yucca strips are sometimes worn by the Jcosa (clowns) 
and by some other dancers. 

At Hano small ceremonial bows of cedar are strung with yucca. In 
sonic initiation ceremonies at Hano, the novices are beaten with yucca 
whips. 

% 

This is a yucca-like weed. It grows near ' Oszewe, a ridge a mile 
north of Nambc Pueblo; 3 also in the Cochiti Mountains. Fiber from 
this plant was used in making string, and for other purposes. 

Excavations at El Rito de los Frijoles in 1909, Amcr. Anthr., n. s., xi, p. 663, 1909. 
2 Cf. Relation Postrera de Simla, Winship, Fourteenth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 569. 
a See Harrington, The Ethnogeography of the Tewa Indians, Twenty-ninth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. 
Ethn., p. 371. 



FRlniE-MARl?El: I o GTON '] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 53 

T^d^y (no etymology). 

? . New Mexican Spanish palo duro. 

HERBS 

Pdbl tss^iy, 'white flower' (ptib\, flower; fs%, whiteness, white). 
Achillea lanulosa. Yarrow, sneezeweed. 

Si. Hano Tewa, si?u. 
Allium recurvatum. Wild Onion. 
Sometimes called ^akqnsi, 'prairie onion,' or 'akQnsi'e, 'little prairie 
onion' i^akqy, plain; si, onion), to distinguish it from the cultivated 
'onion introduced by the Spaniards, by which it has been superseded 
in New Mexico. 

The Tewa of Hano, like the Hopi, know and use two species of wild 
onion: \ikonsPu, 'held onion,' growing on high ground, which is 
gathered, washed, and eaten raw, usually with broken waferbread 
dipped in water; and wqsVu, 'wind onion' (wa, wind; si, onion), grow- 
ing on lower ground, which is small and almost tasteless. 

^Okup K e, 'turtle plant' ('o&u, turtle; pe, stick, plant). Cf. 

^okupJnsgbl, page 59. 
Allionia linearis. 
Su. 

Amaranthus retroflexus, A. hlitoides. Amaranth, Pigweed. Called 
in New Mexican Spanish merely quelite y 'greens.' 
Su was boiled and at times afterward fried. Thus prepared it is 
said to have been a very palatable food. 

TosuHy (to, unexplained; su, to stink, stinking). 
Arenaria confusa. Sandwort. 

Pu tsaywse'iy, 'green rabbit-brush' (pu, Chrysothamnus bige- 

lovii; ts&ywsg,, blue, green). 
Artemisia forwoodii. Green Sage. 
The leaves and stems of pu tsayws^iy are chewed and the juice is 
swallowed when one feels "sick at the stomach." 

The leaves and stems are steeped in water, and the decoction is 
taken as a remedy for chills. See Wne, page 73. 

Ke^ato, 'badger sage'?, 'badger nut'? (kda, badger; to, with 
level intonation, sage; to, with falling intonation, nut). The 
probabilities are in favor of the meaning 'sage,' but one 
careful informant persistently gave the intonation of to, 'nut.' 
67961°— Bull. 55—16^—5 



54 



BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



Artemisia frigida. 1 
This plant is used in the same way as sdboVuwape (see p. 44), but 
is less valued, since it grows in the lowlands near the villages, whereas 
Artemisia filifolia is brought from the mountains. 

Wapop'e, 'milk plant' (wa, breast, udder; po, water; p'e, stick, 

plant). The plant is called thus when young. 
'Ojaqwi, ^oja, unexplained; qwi, fiber). The plant is called thus 

when matured and its fibers are usable. 
Asclepias sp. Milkweed. 
The roots were eaten raw. The immature pods also were eaten. 

Cf. ' Ojaqwitsipsey, page 67. 
String and rope were made of the mature plant. 

^ Imutaka (Hmu, unexplained; ta, ? grass; hi, \ leaf). 
Asclepias sp. 
A remedy for sore breasts, at Santa Clara. 

Wopdbl, ' medicine flower ' (wo, magic, medicine; pdbi, flower). 
Campanula petiolata. Bluebell. 

Puia^p'e, 'painted root plant' (pit, base, root; painting, 

painted; p'e, stick, plant). 
Oastilleja linarid&folia. Painted Cup, Indian Paint-brush. 
The red flower is prominent in decorative art at Hano; it is painted 
on pottery, painted and carved in wood, and imitated in colored yarn 
on a wooden framework. 

P K u ^awi^iy, 'brown rabbit-brush' (p'u, Chrysothamnus bige- 

lovii; '$, brown). 
Chrysopsis hirsutissima. Golden Aster. 

Ta^nsey, Hano Tewa Ha'jsey (fa >a , unexplained; nsey, apparently 
nsey, nest). 

Atriplex canescens. Salt Bush. (See pi. 7, a.) 
At Hano the ashes are stirred into the dough for mowa (see p. 29) 
in order to turn it from purplish-gray, the natural color of meal 
ground from " blue" kernels, to greenish-blue. 
\ , 

Gicuta occidental is. Water Hemlock. 

' Ojop % e (?ojo, unexplained; p'e, stick, plant). 
Coleosanthus umbellatus. 

P^n^bz 'aqwifs%?iy, ' white tendriled weed' (p'e^nseM, weed; 

'aqwi, tendril; fsse, white). 
Cuscuta. Dodder. 



i Flowers of this plant, tied to pahos, are used in the Sojal ceremonies of the Hopi. 



[NSj HARRINGTON 
FREIRE-MARRECO 



N '] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 55 



S%mp*e, 'porcupine plant' (s%y, porcupine; p'e, stick, plant). 
Datura met eloides. Datura. (See pi. 5, b.) 
Seeds of this plant were found in perfect condition in the large 
community house in Rito de los Frijoles Canyon. The Tewa of the 
present day seem to make no use of the plant. 1 

' OFuwap^e, 'cloud plant' ('oFuwa, cloud; p*e, stick, plant). 
Eviogonum annuum. 

Pdbl tsqywstfiy, 'blue or green flower' (pohl, flower; tsaywse, blue, 

green). 
Townsendia eximia. 
Eriogonum divergens. 

Pojeka, ' three leaves ' (poje, three; ka, leaf). 
Fragaria ovalis. Strawberry. 

9 Awi. 

Galium triflorwn. Bedstraw. 

tyw%tsqywse, 'hot tooth' {ywse, thorn; tsqywse, hot). 
Galium sp. % Bedstraw. 
If chewed, this plant makes the gums smart and burn. 

Panup'epotl, 'five-stalked flower' (panu, five; p x e, stick, stalk; 

pdb\, flower). 
Geranium atropurpureum. Geranium, Cranesbill. 

tywgp^e'n&bii 'thorn weed' (yw%, thorn; pe'ngftl, weed). 
Geum striatum. Avens. 

Pofilwijeki, 'swaying flower' (pdbl, flower; wijeki, to sway, 

intransitive). 
Gilia greeneana. Red Gilia. 

P<Mywiy, 'standing flower' (pdbl, flower; ywiy, to stand). 
Gilia longiflora. White Gilia. New Mexican Spanish Una. 
A second informant criticized this name as being merely descriptive 
and not proper to this particular plant (probably because he did not 
know the name). 

The dried flowers and leaves of Gilia longiflora, ground and mixed 
with water, make a soapy lather, which is good for sores on any part 
of the body or for headache. 

i The Zuni use the roots of Datura stramonium as a narcotic and anesthetic, and the blossoms and 
roots ground to a powder as an external application for wounds and bruises. (See M. C. Stevenson, 
The Zuni Indians, Twenty-third Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 385; also Ethnobotany of the Zuni In- 
dians, Thirtieth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., passim.) Some of the Yuman tribes use the leaves as a 
narcotic. Doctor Hough says {Amer. Anthr., x, p. 38) that the use of Datura meteloides as a narcotic 
"is extremely rare and is much decried by the Hopi." Miss G. Robinson, formerly field matron 
at Second Mesa, informs the writers that a Hopi doctor at Sichomovi administered doses of Datura to 
two children who were brought to him from Shongopovi. One of the patients, a child of three 
months, afterward suffered from a succession of convulsive fits, with loss of muscular control, and 
did not fully recover, or acquire the power of speech; the other, a girl about three years of age, 
lost muscular control and died about a month later. 



56 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



Kojaji. Hano Tewa, kojaje (< Span.?). 

Gutierrezia longifolia. New Mexican Spanish yerba de vibora and 
coyaye. 

This plant grows freely in the sand about the Tewa villages. It is 
eaten by live stock. 

At Santa Clara the midwife gives a mixture of kojaji, 'qntamisfo 
(see p. 44), and sa, native tobacco, to the patient in the form of snuff. 
The patient is also fumigated by placing kojaji on hot coals on a puki 
(base used in making pottery), over which she stands, wrapped in a 
blanket. The same remedy is used for painful menstruation. At San 
Ildef onso a newborn child is fumigated in the same way. 

At Hano kojaje, as well as a smaller plant resembling it, called 
kojaje HMtije, 'younger brother of kojaje' (fresh or, in winter, dried), 
is boiled in water and the decoction given for gastric disturbances. In 
a case of gastric influenza with violent vomiting and bleeding from the 
stomach, three half -pint doses a day were given. A fresh decoction 
was made daily and the treatment was continued for five or six days. 

Fresh green kojaje, chopped fine, is rubbed on the skin around the 
ear to relieve earache. 

Sprigs of kojaje are tied on many kinds of prayer-sticks by the 
Tewa of Hano as well as by the Hopi. It is almost the only flowering 
plant available for the December ceremonies. 

Po'a(po, water; '<2, perhaps clothing). Cf. Hano Tewa nqrfa, 
'earth clothing' (nqy, earth; 'a, clothing), a name for lichen 
(see p. 68). 

Ilalerpestes cymbalaria. Crowfoot. 
Snares for catching bluebirds are made from this plant. 

Ilelianthus annuus. Sunflower. New Mexican Spanish anil. 
The fire-stick, p'ap'e, for lighting cigarettes is sometimes a dried 
sunflower stalk. 

A scalp song at Hano describes sunflowers as watered by the tears 
shed by Navaho girls. 

Pylbeje. 

Ilymenoxys floribunda. Colorado Rubber Plant. 
The skin of the roots is pounded until it becomes gummy. The 
material is then chewed as Americans chew chewing-gum. 

Pimp'e, 'mountain stalk' {fiiy, mountain; p*e, stick, stalk, plant). 
Ilypopitys latisquama. Pinesap. 

' Ogohep^e^nseM, 'sour weed' ^ogohe, sour, sourness; p^e'riseM, 
weed). 

Ionoxalis violacea. Violet Wood-sorrel. 

'Agojop*e, 'star plant' i^agojo, star; p K e, plant). 
fKallstroemiabrachystylis. New Mexican Spanish contrayerba. 1 



T The contrayerba used by the Spaniards in Peru as an antidote for noison, and introduced into 
England in 1581 under the name of drakesroot, is an entirely different plant. 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 55 PLATE 4 




B. PLUMED ARROYO SHRUB (FALLUGIA PARADOXA) IN ARROYO IN CANYON OF EL RITO DE 

LOS FRIJOLES. 



ROBBIXS. HARRINGTON 
FREIRE-.MARRECO 



N '] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 57 



At San Ildefonso the chewed leaves are put on a sore or swelling, 
and at Santa Clara the roots are used as a remedy for diarrhea. 

Piyyiviki, 'mountain slope' (pi??, mountain; yw \ki, steep slope). 

Why the plant should be called thus could not be explained. 
Laciniavia punctata. Blazing Star. 
The roots were eaten as food. 

'OH. 

Lappula Jlorilunda. Stickseed. 

P^e'nsgbi'&wViT), 'brown weed' (p^e'nsgbi, weed; 'g, brown). 
Lupinus ad/ancus. Lupine. 

Tosombe. 
Marty nia sp. 

The open seed-vessels, wound aoout with woolen yarn, are some- 
times used at Santa Clara arid at Hano in making artificial flowers for 
dancers' headdresses. 1 

P^e'nsgbl tsifte'iy, 'sticky weed' ffie'n&bl, weed; tsifte, sticky, 

usually said of glutinous substances). 
? PuTcx (Santa Clara). 
Nuttallia multijlora. 
This plant is rough, covered with minute hairs, and clings to cloth- 
ing tenaciously. A young boy, before he is put on a horse for the 
first time, is stripped of his clothing and this rough plant rubbed 
briskly on the bare skin of his legs. His clothing is put on and he is 
placed on the back of the horse. The Tewa maintain that this treat- 
ment enables the boy to adhere to the horse. 

The Franciscan Fathers apply "tenacious" to the sticky quality of 
Mentzelia ( Nuttallia) . 2 

SutsigVir/ (su, to smell, intransitive; tsigi'iy, unexplained). 
Monarda menthd&folia. Horsemint. According to E. Cata of 

San Juan the English-speaking Americans call this plant 

Pennyroyal. 

At San Ildefonso parts of the plant are cooked with meat to flavor 
the latter. The dried plant is ground fine and the powder is rubbed 
over the head as a cure for headache or all over the body as a cure 
for fever. 

At Santa Clara sutsigi'iy is a very popular remedy. As a treatment 
for sore throat, a decoction of the dried leaves is taken internally, 
and, at the same time, a small quantity of the dried and ground leaves 
is enclosed in a narrow strip of deerskin or calico and worn by the 
patient around his neck. As sytsigViy is regarded as one of the 



1 The Zuiii use these seed-vessels in the same way. 

2 The Franciscan Fathers, An Ethnologic Dictionary of the Navaho Language, St. Michaels, Arizona, 
p. 194, 1910. 



58 



BUEEAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



"cold" medicines, it is used in the treatment of fever: the leaves are- 
chopped or finely ground, and the powder, slightly moistened, is 
rubbed on the patient's head, face, and limbs and inside his mouth, and 

also given him in water to 
drink. Sufsigi'iy is said to be 
a remedy for sore eyes, but 
the method of application has 
not been ascertained. 

At Hano this plant is cooked 
and eaten. 

P K e^ns^b\ ywxtsi'be^ir)^ 
4 sticky podded weed ' 
{p K ^ns^b% weed; ywse, 
thorny, thorn; tsiie, 
sticky). 
Oreocarya multicaulis. 

Qwuipe, 4 in a row plant' 
(qvrUi, line, row;^£, 
stick, stalk, plant). 
Pentalostemum oligophyl- 
lum, P. candidus, Prairie 
Clover. 

At San Ildefonso, the sweet 
roots of the plant are eaten raw. 

At Santa Clara it is applied to 
an Atriplex, species not deter- 
mined. Women and children 
chew the plant as a delicacy. 

Koheptibl, 'humming- 
bird flower ' (Fohe, 
hummingbird; poil, 
flower). 
Pentstemon t or r ey i . 
Beard-tongue. 
Used at Santa Clara as a 
dressing for sores. 

Qioa. 

Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Guaco. New 
Mexican Spanish guaco. (See fig. 4.) 
This is a very important plant with the Tewa, inasmuch as black 
paint for pottery decoration is made from it. Large quantities of 
young plants are collected, usually in July. The plants are boiled 
well in water; the woody parts are then removed and the decoction is 
again allowed to boil until it becomes thick and attains a black color. 




Fig. 4. — Rocky Mountain bee plant 



Peritoma serrulatum. 



PEBfRE-MfBRE^o 610 ^ ] ET'HNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 59 

This thick fluid is poured on a board to dry and soon becomes hard- 
ened. It may be kept in hard cakes for an indefinite period. When 
needed these are soaked in hot water until of the consistency needed 
for paint. 

Guaco is also used as a food. The hardened cakes are soaked in 
hot water, and then fried in grease. 

Th"e finely ground plants are mixed with water and the liquid is 
drunk as a remedy for stomach disorders; or sometimes fresh plants 
wrapped in a cloth are applied to the abdomen. 

Hano Tewa Kw&y, or Tcwsety. Hopi, ty,mi. 

Peritoma serrulatum 1 . 
This plant is of sufficient economic importance to be named in songs 
with the three chief cultivated plants, corn, pumpkin, and cotton. It 
is gathered in spring, and, after long boiling to rid it of the alkaline 
taste, is eaten with / dkewe (cornmeal porridge), a small quantity of 
salt being added at the time of eating. 2 

' Okup^e'nsgbl, 'turtle weed' foM, turtle; jp K d?i%fo\ weed). Cf. 

' Okilp'e, page 53. 
Phacelia corrugata. A fern species. 

Tsigo'ofe (tsigo, forehead; J ofe, unexplained), probabty referring 

to the custom of cracking the pod on one's forehead. 
Physalis neomexicana. Ground Tomato, Ground Cherry. New 
Mexican Spanish tomate, tomate del campo. 
The fruit is covered with a bladdery envelope which the boys crack 
with a popping sound by pressing it quickly on the forehead. 
The berries are eaten. 

Tomatoes also are called by this Tewa name, as well as by the 
Spanish name tomate (<Nahuatl tomail, Mex. Span, tomate). See 
Tomato, p. 113. 

? Po'ani. 

Pinns^iy qwq, 'mountain guaco' (piv, mountain; n%, locative; 

qwQ, Peritoma serrulatum). 
Polanisia trachysperma. Clammy Weed. (See Stanleyella 

wrightii, p. 61. 

Pyn&x (p^, apparently Chrysothamnus higelovii; fi%?%, unex- 
plained). Cf. Hano Tewa p*y>jse, page 60. 
Portulaca oleraeea. Purslane. 
The top of this fleshy plant is eaten boiled by both Indians and 
Mexicans. 



1 See Fewkes, Amer. Anthr., ix, p. 16,1896. 

2 The Hopi boil the leaves with green corn. (See Hough, Amer. Anthr., x, p. 37, 1897.) 



60 



BUEEAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



P*yjx, Hano Tewa (£>'^, apparently Chiysothamnus bigelovii;^, 

unexplained). Cf. p*yffl%?%, page 59. 
Portulaca retusa (Hopi pihala). 1 
This plant used to be eaten, cut up fine, in grav} r . 

JVdmp'e, 'earth stalk' (nay, earth; p*e, stick, stalk, plant). 
Ptiloria sp. 

Py,hy,. 

Quamoclidion multiflorum. Four-o'clock. (See pi. 5, a.) 
An infusion of the ground roots in water is drunk for cases of 
swelling, probably those of dropsical origin. The roots after being 
ground are mixed with corn flour to improve the taste. 

'An$i ( < New Mexican Span. anil). 
Hano Tewa Alijowa. 

Pinns^iy 'ani'i, 'mountain sunflower' (piy, mountain; n%, loca- 
tive; '<mfa, sunflower). 
Rudbechia jiava. Black-eyed Susan. 
Kup^JnsfM, 'rock weed' (leu, rock; pe'nsebl, weed). 
Leptasea austromontana. 

Pinn%?im p % dns$)\ 'mountain weed' (piy, mountain; use, loca- 
tive; p^ngbl, weed). 
Senecio macdougalii. 

Hano Tewa 'Aw%,, Hopi asa. 

Sophia sp. 2 Tansy Mustard. 
The plant is used to make black paint for decorating pottery. 3 
Bundles of the plant, moistened, are steamed in a can in a pit oven; 
"some people boil it, but steaming thus is the best way, so that it will 
melt smooth." A quantity of liquid is then squeezed out, and the mass 
which remains is molded into a cake and, wrapped in corn husk, is 
stored for winter use. It is an article of trade between women. For 
use, a small piece is broken off, dipped in water, and rubbed down on 
a stone pallette with a hard mineral paint called Tcup'e.y (leu, stone; 
pe_y, blackness). 

'Awse is cooked and eaten in spring. 

The Hano people translate the name of the Asa clan of Sichomovi 
as 'Aw%iowa. 

' Oda (unexplained). 

Sphderalcea lobata. Globe Mallow. 

i Fewkes, Amer. Anthr., IX, p. 15,1896. 

2 See Fewkes, ibid.; Hough, ibid., x, p. 40, 1897. 

: The method of preparation seems doubtful or variable. Hough says that the seeds are ground 
in a mortar, forming an oily liquid which serves as a medium for the iron paint. Fewkes says that 
an infusion of the flowers is mixed with iron pigment, the juice of the asa being presumed to cause 
the pigment to adhere. The Tewa of New Mexico (see above) and the Zuni (Stevenson, The Zufii 
Indians, p. 375) use the liquid obtained by boiling Peritoma serrulatum. The Hano method is given 
here. 



fre?re M?pfRECo nT ° N 'l ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 



61 



Finely powdered roots are applied to wounds caused by snake bites 
and to sores in which considerable pus appears. The pus is said to 
be drawn out by the action of this remedy. 1 

The skin from the roots is pounded into powder; water is added to 
make a paint, which is used on the face preparatory for the dance. 

K'ofawo, 'medicine for broken arms' (Jco, arm; fa, to break, 
wo, medicine). 

Pofawo, 'medicine for broken legs' ( po, leg; fa, to break; wo, 
medicine). 

Taraxacum taraxacum. Common Dandelion. New Mexican 
Spanish consuelda. 
The young plants are eaten as greens. 

The leaves ground fine are used in dressing fractures. At San Ilde- 
fonso the ground leaves, reduced with water to a paste, are spread 
over the fracture, and fresh leaves of the same plant bound over it 
with rags. At Santa Clara a cloth spread with leaves on which ground 
consuelda leaves are sprinkled is tied over the fracture. Consuelda 
leaves ground and mixed with dough are applied to a bad bruise. 

Tan sy?iy, 'seed which smells' (tan, seed; su, to smell, smelling). 
Thalictrum fendlerL Meadow Rue. 

Tep'e, 'tea plant' (te <Span.; p'e, plant). 

JDep'e, 'coyote plant' coyote; jpe, plant), and kota, New 

Mexican Spanish cota. 
Thelesperm.a gracile and T. trifidum. New Mexican Spanish te, 

te silvestre, cota. 

The leaves are steeped and the tea is drunk as a beverage by Indians 
and Mexicans. 

Pinns^iy qwq, 'mountain guaco' (pin, mountain; nse, locative; 

qwq, Peritoma serrulatum). 
Stanleyella wrightii. 
This is a species of mustard, the Mustard family being closely 
related to the guaco. The informants stated that pinn&iy qwq, is 
used in the same way as guaco for making paint for pottery and as 
food. (See Polanisia trachysperma, p. 59.) 

Pinka, 'heart leaf (piy, heart, heart-shaped; ha, leaf). 
Viola canadensis. Violet. . 

'AkqnsytsigViy, 'prairie horsemint' ('ahoy, valley, field, open 

country; sy,tsigi'iy, see p. 57). 
1 

A small horsemint growing in the mountain canyons. 



1 U. S. Dispensatory: Forms closely allied to this species are described as having several medicinal 
properties. Fresh plants of the Common Mallow have been used as a suppurative or relaxing 
poultice in case of external inflammation. 



62 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



Hano Tewa, Kojaje HMtije. 

? . 

See under hojaji, page 56. 

Fu fsseto'iy, ' buff - colored rabbit - brush' (p'u, Chrysothamnus 
bigelovii; fsseto, buff -color, buff-colored). 

The galls of this plant, p^he'e (p*y,, rabbit-brush; be, ball; '<?, dimin- 
utive), ground up and drunk in water, are a good though very strong 
medicine for the stomach (Santa Clara). 

CACTI 

S%. 

Opuntia. Prickly Pear Cactus, Round-leaved Cactus. 
Opuntia camanchica. Prickly Pear Cactus, Round-leaved Cactus. 
(PI. 6, b, shows the Opuntia camanchica.) 
The fruit of both of these species is eaten; it is called ssepe, prickly 
pear (sse, prickly-pear cactus; pe, fruit), or sseywsebe (sse, Opuntia; 
ywse, thorny; be, ball, roundish fruit), ' thorny round fruit of Opuntia.' 

This plant is perhaps usually called b} r the Tewa of San Juan 
sssr/ivse 'thorny Opuntia' (sse, Opuntia; ywse, thorn}^, thorn). 

The Tewa of Hano call the fruit of this or a similar cactus ssento 
(sse, Opuntia; to, nut). 

Jo. 

Opuntia arborescens. Chandelier Cactus, Cane Cactus. New 
Mexican Spanish entrana. (See pi. 8, a.) 

The Tewa of Hano eat the cooked fruit of this or of a similar species, 
jomelesselse (jo, Opuntia; mele, ball, roundish fruit; sselse, boil, cook), 
in summer. 1 The women pick the fruit with tongs, ssentop'e, made of 
cleft sticks (sse, Opuntia, see above; to, nut; p~e, stick), and carry it 
home in baskets. It is put into &p*ajo (basket made of slips of yucca), 
and rubbed with a stone to dislodge the spines. It is then dropped 
into boiling water and allowed to cook for some time. This fruit is 
eaten with / ahewe, cornmeal porridge, with the addition of sugar. 

The fruit of "aflat cactus," also called^, is cooked in the same 
way. 

jyiv&nsafiewalcu, 'Navaho testicles' (tywdy, Jemez; Sate, Athapas- 
can; waku, testicle). 2 

Mamillaria sp. Ball Cactus. (See pi. 6, a.) 
The spines were burned off and the entire plant was eaten raw. 
The Tewa know by report the giant saguaro of southern Arizona, 
used for the roof-beams of houses." 

1 The Zufli cook the fruit of Opuntia filipcndula. (See Stevenson, The Zufii Indians, p. 368.) 

2 At Santa Clara a story is told of a Navaho who, prowling around a " Mexican" village hy night, 
fell into the cactus bushes; the spines put out his eyes, and he was caught and mocked by the people 
next morning. 



ROBBINS, HARRINGTON 
FREIRH-JUARRECO 



] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 63 



VINES 

Any kind of vine is called ^ap'%. 

'Ap*% 'o%v?iy, 'downy vine' {^ap'se, vine; 'ohu, downy, down). 
Clematis ligusticifolia. Clematis. 
When the vine is in fruit the long plumose styles are said to look 
like the down of an eagle. 

Kaqwi'ap'se, 'tie leaves vine' (lea, leaf; qwi, to tie; 'ap'se, vine). 
Humulus lupulus neornexicanus. Hop. 

GOURDS 

Pd'oje (po, squash, pumpkin; 'oje, unexplained). 
Cucurbita fwtidissima. Wild Gourd. (PI. 7, b.) 
The roots ground fine and stirred in cold water are drunk as a 
laxative. 1 

For cultivated squashes, see page 100. 

GRASSES AND GRASSLIKE PLANTS 

The word meaning ' grass ' is ta. All true grasses and grasslike 
plants, as sedges, may be called ta. There is evidence here of 
classification and recognition of a distinct group of plant life. Most 
of the grass names are compounded, ta being an element common to 
nearly all of them. In the event that a species of grass is not known 
by a special name it is spoken of merely as ta. This is of course 
similar to our common method of naming grasses; unfamiliar species 
are spoken of as 'grass,' while better known kinds are apt to be given 
specific names. Many of the Tewa grass names given below are 
merely descriptive terms and not real names of species. (See pi. 3.) 

Ta is also used meaning 'hay,' in this sense being the equivalent 
of New Mexican Spanish zacate. 

Straw is called ta, 'grass,' 'hay,' or taFowa, 'grass tegument' 
(ta, grass; Fowa, tegument, skin). Chaff also is called taFovja. 
Stubble left where grass or hay has been cut is called tapeFu, 
'grass stalk-skeleton' (ta, grass; p*e, stick, stalk; Fu, hard part of 
an object, cob of corn, skeletal part of the body). 

Wheat straw or chaff is tqtqFowa. 

Hodge 2 gives as Grass clans at various pueblos: San Juan, Nambe, 
and Tesuque, Td-tdoa; Hano, Td-towa. 

. Ta ywseHy, 'thorny grass' (ta, grass; ywse, thorny, thorn). 
Cenchrus carolinianus. Sand Bur. 

1 U. S. Dispensatory: " The pulp of the root of Cucurhita dagenaria, or gourd, is said by Dr. Chapin 
to be a powerful and even drastic purgative." 

2 Amer. Anthr., ix, p. 35, 1896. 



64 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



Ta pcPiy, 'hairy grass' (ta, grass; ypo, hairy, hair). 
Mymus canadensis. Wild Rye. 
Lycurus phleoides. Texan Timothy. 

Plmplnta, 4 chirping grass 5 (pimpiy, to make a noise by blowing 
through a pinched grass stalk, by blowing on a grass leaf 
held between the two thumbs, or by putting a grass leaf 
between the two lips and sucking; ta, grass). 
Tapipi, 'grass whistle' (ta, grass; pipi, onomatopoeic, connected 

with pimply, to chirp; see below.). 
Panicum barbipidvinatum. Panic Grass. 
One may say of the note produced by holding a leaf or leaf -sheath 
of this grass between the lips and sucking: plntsiiewagl ndplmply, 
'it chirps like a mountain bird' (ply, mountain; tsue, bird; wagl, 
like; ml, it; pimply, to chirp thus by means of grass). 

Little bundles or brooms made of this grass are used by the women 
for cleaning metates and metate boxes. 

Tsiieta, 'bird grass' (tsue, bird; ta, grass). 
Alopecurus aristulatus. Rush Grass. 
Muhlenhergia trifida. Hair Grass. 
Schlzachyrium scoparium. Sage Grass. 
Two kinds of grass are used to make brooms: 

Tapenl Ica'nly ±ta, 'tasseled broom (grass)' {tapeni, broom; 
Jc&y, tassel). 
% 

This grass grows in the fields and by the river. 

A single plant of this species would be called taka^nly, ' tasseled 
grass.' 

Ta tartly, 'seedy grass' (ta, grass; tay, seedy, seed). 

Tapenlta, 'broom grass' (tap'enl, broom; ta, grass). 

Bouteloua cu? i tipendida. Mesquite Grass. 
This grass grows in the mountains, and Mexican peddlers often 
bring bunches of it to sell in the Tewa villages. 

The grasses are gathered in August, tied in firm bundles, and care- 
fully dried. The long soft end of the broom serves to sweep the adobe 
floor, and when worn shorter by use, it makes a convenient brush for 
the hearth and the metates. The short butt-end of the broom serves 
as a hair-brush. Before sweeping, the New Mexican Tewa women 
sprinkle the floor copiously to lay the dust, for this purpose dipping 
their fingers into a dish of water. The Keres women blow a 'mist' 
(Tewa, soboFuwa) of water from their mouths for the same purpose. 
The Hano people, on account of both the scarcity of water and the 
fineness of their adobe, seldom sprinkle the floor at all. 

Ta Icebe, 'bent-necked grass' (ta, grass; Ice, neck; be, bent, a 
bend). 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



Bulletin 55 plate 5 




B. DATURA METELOIDES, A LARGE AND CONSPICUOUS PLANT OF STREAM TERRACES AND TALUS 

SLOPES. 



ROBBINS, HARRINGTON 
FREIRE-MARRECO 



"'] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS . 65 

Bouteloua gracilis. Grama Grass. (See fig. 5.) 
^Anuta Qafiy,, unexplained ; ta, grass). 



Much of this grass grows along the irrigating ditches. 




Fig. 5.— Grama grass. 



Ta pPiy, 'red grass' (ta, grass; pi, red). 

Tasey, ? 'horn grass' (ta, grass; apparently ser), horn). 

? . New Mexican Spanish zacate azul. 

This kind of grass grows on the hills east of the Rio Grande and 
elsewhere. It is excellent food for cattle. 



66 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



Tajo, 'large grass,' 'boss grass' (ta, grass; jo, augmentative). 
Car ex sp. Sedge. 1 

% . 

^ Awa (unexplained), a kind of cattail. 
This has narrower leaves than ^awapa, below. 

^Awap'a Cawa, a kind of cattail; pa, large, thin, flat and 
roundish). This has larger leaves than \twa and pa is added 
to distinguish it as regards this feature. 

Typha latifolia. Cattail. 

'Awase i^awa, a kind of cattail; se, unexplained), 
f . 

A kind of tall straight-stalked water grass. 

P'ejjJcivamp'e, 'frog weed' (p^ykwqy, frog; p*e, stick, stalk, 

plant). 
2 . 

Described as a kind of rush. 
Po, posu. 

Phragmites phragmites. Reed, cane. New Mexican Spanish 
carrizo. 

It is said that this plant formerly grew plentif ully along the Rio 
Grande near the Tewa villages. Now none can be found there. It 
grows, however, along Jemez creek near Jemez pueblo. 

The plant was used for making arrows, game-sticks for the Canute 
game, and many other purposes. 

FUNGI 

Te; 'O??^ ( < Span. ) New Mexican Spanish Kongo. Applied to 

any fungus resembling toadstool or puffball. 
% . 

Te is applied to any large fungus, as a toadstool, mushroom, puff- 
ball, etc. 

So far as could be learned the Tewa do not distinguish between the 
edible and the poisonous kinds. The informant stated that they ate 
any kind they found and that they never suffered ill effects. In pre- 
paring toadstools and mushrooms for food they are first boiled, then 
fried. A stick must be laid across the top of the kettle containing 
the cooked toadstools or mushrooms from which one is eating, other- 
wise he would thenceforth be afflicted with a poor memory. 

ITy,n8%p&ie (k K y>y-> corn; ssepe^e, unexplained). 
? . Corn smut. 

] Mr. W. B. Douglass found loops of sedge (cyprous) with feathers attached in a large shrine on - 
Santa Clara peak, Tsikumufyiy, a peak in the Jemez Mountains, near the headwaters of the Santa 
Clara River. See p. 49, footnote. 



bobbins, Harrington,! ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 67 

FREIRE-MARRECO J 

At San Ildefonso corn smut stirred in cold water is drunk as a cure 
for diarrhea. At Santa Clara some women use it in the same way as 
a remedy for irregular menstruation. 1 

Tes%, 4 valley cottonwood stew' (te, Populus wislizeni; s%, stew, 

sauce). 
\ . 

This is a fungus growth found on the ground near, or on the decay- 
ing wood of, a cottonwood tree. When boiled and eaten it is con- 
sidered a delicacy. 

' Ojaqwitsip%y, 'milkweed eye pus' ('ojaqioi, milkweed, Asclepias 

sp. see p. 54; tsi, eye; p%y, pus). 
? . 

A reddish creamlike scum on stagnant water. 
This is seen on pools along the Rio Grande. It has little smell. 
This substance is not used by the Tewa. 

P'o^y, 'stained,' 'stain,' 'moldy,' 'mold.' 

\ . Mold, Mildew. 

Thus: pqm p^q^niy, 'moldy bread ' (pay, bread; p^q^y, moldy, mold. ) 

JV&mp'u, 'earth swelling' (nay, earth; p\i, to puff up). 
Geaster sp. Earth Star. 
At Santa Clara the powder} 7 seed-spores are used as a remedy for a 
white or yellow discharge from the ear; they are blown into the ear 
through a tube of corn husk or paper. 

Namp K u. 

? . Potato. 

See sxgqbe, page 73. 

FERNS 

K*%rfqmp K e, 'mountain-lion-foot plant' (Jc%y, mountain- lion;' ay, 

foot; pe, stick, stalk, plant). 
Dryopteris filix-mas. Shield Fern. 
It is believed that this plant produces no seeds. The spore-sacs on 
the under surfaces of the fronds are considered to have no function of 
reproduction. 

Poka, 'water leaf (po, water; ha, leaf). 
Filix fragilis. Brittle Fern. 

PapPe. (San Ildefonso.) ' OVup^e'nsebi Cok'u, unexplained; 

p^e^nseVb, weed). (Santa Clara.) 
Notholama fendleri. Cloak Fern. 

i Mrs. Stevenson (The Zufii Indians, 23d Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 297) tells of a usage of 
this fungus by the Zuni: " Though hemorrhage is uncommon it sometimes occurs, and for this 
trouble a tea is made by pouring boiling water over the fungus known as corn smut ( Ustilago maidis) , 
which has the same effect as the ergot of the pharmacopeia." 



68 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



This plant ground fine is used on the lips as a remedy for cold 
sores. 

MOSSES AND LICHENS 

Mosses and lichens are called merely Fowa, 'tegument,' 'skin.' 
The name of the substance on which the plant grows is usually pre- 
joined. Thus: kuFowa, 'moss growing on rock,' literally 'rock skin' 
(ku, rock; Fowa, tegument, skin). 

Mosses ground are applied to the lips as a remedy for cold sores. 

At Santa Clara IcuFoiva is rubbed on sores about a child's mouth, 
and also put into the cavity of a decayed tooth to stop pain. 

JVqtfa, Hano Tewa (nay, earth; '«, clothing). 

Lichen sp. 

At Hano a lichen, naif a, is applied to the teeth and gums to cure 
toothache. 

SCOURING RUSHES 

Po^eFuy (po«(<e, apparently po^e, 'fishweir'; Fuy; stiff object, leg). 
Equisetum arvense. Scouring Rush, Horsetail. New Mexican 
Spanish canatillo. 
This plant grows where there is water. It is of a dark green color 
and never exceeds two feet in height. Horses eat it. 

The plant was called snake-grass by a white man living in the 
neighborhood. 

Tf utedey. 

? . New Mexican Spanish canatillo. 

A decoction made from this is a good medicine for babies when 
they catch cold. It is also a remedy for diarrhea. 

WILD PLANTS FROM OUTSIDE THE TEWA COUNTRY 

Petsejiy, 'yellow plant' (p*e, stick, plant; tse, yellow). 

Madura aurantiaca. Osage Orange or Bois d'arc. 
This is a shrub said to grow in Texas and the valley of the Arkan- 
sas River, especially in a place called Garcia. The limbs are straight 
and thorny and the color of the wood is yellow. The wood of this 
shrub was considered better for making bows than any which grew 
in the Tewa country. 1 It was brought from the east by the Tewa, 
or obtained from the Comanche or other Eastern tribes. 

Tsep'e, 'eagle plant' (tse, eagle; pe, stick, plant). 

Prosopis glandulosa. Mesquite sp. (not screw mesquite). New 
Mexican Spanish mezquite. 



i Many of the Pirna hunting bows are made of Osage Orange wood, a material that is now obtain- 
able from the whites along the Salt River. (See Russell, The Pima, Twenty-sixth Ann. Rep. Bur. 
Amer. Ethn., p. 95.) 



ROBBINS, HARRINGTON 
FREIRE-MARRECO 



'] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 69 



Very few Tewa are acquainted with this plant; it does not grow in 
the Tewa country. Many individuals were questioned about it. At 
last a Tewa who had been in the southern part of New Mexico so de- 
scribed it that it was recognized as the mesquite. The fruit is called 
isep'emu, 'eagle plant pods' (tee, eagle; p'e, stick, plant; my,, pod). 
This informant said that the screw mesquite (Prosopis pubescens) pods 
used to be obtained from the Mescalero Apache. These were twisted 
into the ear as a cure for 'ojep*ohe, 'ear-ache' Coje, ear; p K o, hole; 
he, sick, sickness). Cf. fa' he, page 73. 

Koyr&o, 'buffalo nut' {ko'°-y, buffalo; to, nut). 

? . Walnut. New Mexican Spanish nogal. 

Wild walnuts used to be gathered by the Tewa when they hunted 
buffalo in the Arkansas River valley. Walnuts are still called kq^nto, 
but more often merely to, ' nuts.' 

Tu piH H , 'red kernels' (tu, kernel; pi, red). 

% : . 

A large red seed, resembling one of the seeds of a rose; the plant is 2 
or 3 feet high and has leaves like those of a rose. The tree ( ?) is said to 
be plentiful on the Comanche, Kiowa, and Osage reservations. The 
Comanche sometimes bring the seeds when they visit the New Mexi- 
can pueblos, and Pueblo Indians visiting the Comanche country carry 
the seeds back with them. 1 They are valued as a medicine for women 
at their periods; a piece of a seed is broken into small fragments and 
swallowed with water. 

P^ekwda, 'vegetable beads' {pe, stick, plant; Jcwa?a, beads). A 
merely descriptive name. 



Large brown seeds from a bush four feet high which grows in the 
mountains near Rio Verde, Arizona. 2 A man at Santa Clara professed 
to recognize these seeds as "good when you have wind [i. e., wander- 
ing neuralgic pains] in the head, making your head ache and making 
you crazy." They should be rubbed into a greasy paste and smeared 
on the head. 

PLANTS NOT SATISFACTORILY IDENTIFIED 

Qwsepu, (qw%, unexplained; pu, root). 

? . ? Alder. Cf. qwse, page 45, and the use of t fyy, alder, 

pages 38-39. 

1 The Mohave Apache obtain this seed from the neighborhood of Tucson; it grows also in northern 
Mexico. Apparently they use these seeds only as beads. The White Mountain Apache use them as 
medicine. A specimen of this seed may be seen in the Field Museum, Chicago (Owen coll., No. 84647). 

2 The Mohave Apache collect these seeds. The White Mountain Apache use them as medicine. A 
specimen of this seed may be seen in the Field Museum, Chicago (Owen Coll., No. 84550), 

67961°— Bull. 55—16 6 



70 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



A woody stem used for coloring deerskin, called by the Yavapai 
Hkwala, was identified by a man at Santa Clara as a remed} r , applied 
externally, for spots on the face and arms, for throat-ache, or any 
other pain. 

i . 

Vagnera amplexicaulis. False Solomon's Seal. 
The ripe berries were eaten. 

'Asap'a ('asa, unexplained ; p'a, large and flat). 
\ . 

A small plant that grows in the hills behind San Ildefonso. 

Kop'e, 4 planting plant ' (Jco, to plant; p plant). 
% . 

An informant at Santa Clara gave this name, probably in error, to 
a dried specimen of Villanova dissecta. 

Kope is mentioned as a plant which is buried with corn at planting- 
time to promote the growth of the latter. 

Kq^mp'e, 'buffalo plant' Qco^y, buffalo; pe, plant). 
? . 

If ump*e, 4 cob plant' (fcy,y, corn-cob; p*e i plant) . 
% . 

JT'ujop'e, 'wolf plant' (Jcujo, timber wolf; p*e, stick, plant). 

\ New Mexican Spanish yerba de lobo. 

The Santa Clara people obtain this plant in the mountains southwest 
of the Kito de los Frijoles Canyon; they use it in treating a swollen 
bruise. 

Kutemhi (ku, skunk- bush; t£?j, tube; M, unexplained). 
% . 

This plant is found on the hills east of San Juan Pueblo. 
The leaves are chewed to allay thirst. 

The leaves are steeped and the decoction is drunk as a remedy for 
urinal troubles. 

Jodop'epohl {jodo, ; p'e, stick, plant; potl, flower). 

? . 

This plant is described as growing in the mountains, attaining a 
height of two feet, and bearing large red and white flowers. 

The plant is dried and ground to a tine powder; this is applied 
dry to the surface of a wound which has been first moistened. 

MaTba ( < Spanish). 

Mallow sp. New Mexican Spanish malva. 
At Santa Clara this plant is used as a remedy for headache. The 
plant ground is made into a paste with the addition of water and a 



BOBBIN S, HARRINGTON 
FREIRE-MARRECO 



N '] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 71 



small quantity of sugar. The paste is applied over each temporal 
artery and on the forehead between the eyebrows. 

Mqnsupu (mqnsu <Span. ; jpu, base, root). 

? ■. New Mexican Spanish yerba del manso. 

This plant grows especially along both sides of Ojo Caliente Creek, 
in the vicinity of La Cueva, New Mexico. Mexicans dig it there and 
sell it among Mexicans and Indians. A decoction is made of the plant 
as one makes coffee, and this is drunk hot for stomachache. 

OJcqywsep'e, (?okq,gw%, sounded like 'okqijwx, turkey-buzzard; 

p*e, stick, weed). Known also merely as '6kqyw%. 
% . 

This plant is described as growing about two feet high. It is said to 
be a good remedy for sick babies, the leaves being merely tied on the 
cradle. The additional information was obtained that the plant has 
large roots, which are not edible. 

'OsawPa. 
% . 

This is described as a species of weed, growing in lakes, springs, 
and pools; it is tender and peppery, and was eaten raw. (See Be*iu, 
water-cress, page 112.) 

' Osa (no etymology) . 
? Angelica sp. 

A specimen of the root only was obtained. The leaf is said to re- 
semble that of tobacco. 

The root, 'osapu (pu, root), is highly valued as a remedy for diar- 
rhea and almost all stomach disorders. A very small dose is recom- 
mended. Some boil the root and drink the decoction; others chew the 
root dry. A small piece ground fine and swallowed with a cupful of 
water cures stomachache and vomiting. Young women should not 
take this remedy, as it is highly astringent; it is particularly danger- 
ous for a woman near the time of her confinement. 

5 Osajpu is an article of trade in the Tewa villages; it is brought from 
the mountains by "Mexican" peddlers. 

The same root is used as a stomach tonic by the Yavapai and other 
tribes of southern Arizona. 1 

'Osu. 



Described as a kind of plant which grows in the mountains. 

Paliuiupe (San lldefonso), 'fish staff' (pa, fish; 'uMip'e staff, 

prayer-stick). Pa J e<iope (Santa Clara). See below. 
? . New Mexican Spanish yerba de pescado, 'fish weed.' 



1 Angelica atropurpurea is used by the White Mountain Apache as a remedy, a small quantity being 
mixed with tobacco. (Specimen in Field Museum, Chicago.) 



72 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 55 

A kind of straight-stalked weed said to grow six inches high and to 
have no flowers (San lldefonso). 

At Santa Clara a similar name, pa?e<iope (pa, fish; '&&qp K e, meaning 
uncertain), along with the Spanish name yerba de pescado, was applied 
to a broad-leaved plant having fleshy tap-roots, the mdt a xefa of the 
Yavapai. The roots, dried and ground fine, were said to be prepared 
and used as a salve for pimples on. the face and nose. 

Psen%Lqw%, 'snake palo duro' (pseny,, snake; qivaz, ? Cercocarpus 
parvifolius). 

1 . 

A kind of shrub. 

P'^ntsayws^iy 'black-green 5 (p\y, black; tsqywse, blue, green). 
% . 

A plant having dark foliage and a yellow flower. 

I*dnsgtfo yws^iy, 'thorny weed' (p K dns$)\, weed; yw%, thorny, 
thorn). 

% . Common thistle. 

Pdnsgbip^a, 'broad weed' (p*dnsgb\, weed; p*a, large, thin, flat 

and roundish). 
2 . 

A broad-leaved lily-like plant which grows in the mountains. 

Budup'e'ftqtfji, 'donkey weed' (bu4u, donkey, <Span. burro; 

p'e'nseftl, weed). 
% . 

Donkeys are fond of eating this weed. 

Pgnup'Jnsgftl, 'snake weed' (psenii, snake; pe'n^b\ weed). 

2 . 

The leaves of two shrubs are smoked with native tobacco to make 
it milder, especially in religious ceremonies. 

Pimp^un&se, 'mountain purslane' (pi??, mountain; p un&sz, Por- 
tulaca oleracea). 

• • 

This shrub grows in the mountains near Cochiti, and the Santa 
Clara people procure it from that pueblo. Cf. Qwsepe, below. 

Qwsep'e (qw% ? ; p*e 9 stick, plant). 
\ . 

The leaves resemble those of pvrn p K uriq?2£ (see above) but are 
smaller. This shrub grows on the hills to the west of Santa Clara 
Pueblo. 

Pit'ipdbi, 'red little ball flower' (pi, red; tfi, small and roundish 

like a ball; pt/bl, flower). 
? . 



|RlfiE-MAR A So 6TON '] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 73 

A plant which grows in the mountains. It resembles the firepoker 
of our gardens. 

Pogq^ytu (pogq^y, ; tu, kernel). 



A San Ildefonso informant stated that this plant grows low on the 
ground in the hills. The seed-pods are six inches long; these are 
gathered when ripe and are eaten after being roasted in hot ashes. 

An informant at Santa Clara gave this, probably in error, as the 
name of the Mesquite, which he professed to have seen on the Mexican 

border. From the seeds, called pogq^ntu (pqgq^y, ; tu, kernel), 

and from which the plant evidently gets its name, flour was made. 

Pogwx {po, water; qwx, ? Cercocarpus parvifolius). 
% , 

Said to be a kind of herb which Tewa boys use as a perfume. 

Potap'e, 'dry water plant' (po, water; la, dry; p K e, stick, stalk, 
plant). 



This is a kind of weed that grows by the water. 

Potey, 'water tube' (po, water; t^y, tube). 
? ViUanova dissecta. 

Sxgobe (ssego, unexplained; he, roundish fruit, ball). 
? Solarium jamesii. Potato. 
It is said that sxgobe was originally applied to a white-flowered 
plant, native to this region, which bears small edible tubers similar 
to potatoes. These tubers likewise are called sxgobe and are still 
eaten by the Tewa. No specimen of the plant could be obtained. 1 
See papa and nqmphi, which are also applied to 'potato.' 
Swollen glands are called ssegohe. 

Sxylco. 
% . 

Described as a kind of hard-wooded shrub. 

Sepatqwi. 
2 . 

This name was obtained at Santa Clara. Sepatqwi is said to be 
a kind of water alga. 

This plant is placed on the forehead to stop nosebleed. 

Ta'ne. 
\ . 

Said to be the correct name of one of the species of plant wrongly 
called pu tsqywseHy in this paper. This information was volunteered 



1 Cf. Hopi tiimna (" a small nodule" ), potato (Solarium jamesii). It is boiled and eaten with a talc of 
greasy taste called turr&n' tciika, ' potato clay.' (See Fewkes, Amer. Anthr., ix, 1895, p. 19.) 



74 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 55 

by one of the old informants who had been "thinking it over" for 
several weeks. 
The plant is said to resemble tsepe (p. 68). 

TiwOy 'swelling medicine' (ti, swollen, a swelling; wo, magic, 

medicine). 
| . 

This plant is found on the hills east of San Juan Pueblo. 
The root of the plant pounded is applied to swollen parts. 

A kind of shrub. 

Tsxtop 'i£ u g_i {Use, white; top K u? u gif). 
? . 

A weed which resembles the dusty-miller of our gardens. It is said 
to look as if it had been rolled in gypsum or dust. It grows in the 
mountains and in the lowlands. 

TupiHy, 'red kernel' (tu, kernel; pi, red). 

'( . 

See page 69. 

Tusa, ' flesh tobacco ' (tu, flesh; sa, tobacco). 
? . 

This is described as a kind of wild tobacco. 

Tujo (tu, unexplained; jo, apparentl} T j?V>> augmentative). 
i . 

A plant which grows in the mountains. 

"0 in pop V, 'blood plant' i^utnpo, blood, < 'uy, blood; po, water, 
liquid; p*e, stick, stalk, plant). 

% 

A kind of plant found growing under pine trees in the mountains. 
It has red flowers and red juice, whence its name. Specimens were 
obtained from the mesa south of Frijoles Canyon, 1 but these have not 
yet been identified. 

ljw\ku (unexplained). 

? • New Mexican Spanish lecliero, 

WbfPi?*, 'red medicine' (wo, magic, medicine; pi, red). 
I ( 

This is described as a plant bearing red flowers; it is boiled and the 
decoction is drunk for purifying the blood. The plant grows in the 
mountains. 



<<■>■ IInrriiiKton, Th«- Ktlnio^'o^ruphy of the Tewa Indians, Twenty-ninth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. 
Kil,u.,p. 110. 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 55 PLATE 6 




B. PRICKL/ PEAR (OPUNTIA CAMANCHICA). 



PMmiMr R mfc(? GTON ' ] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 75 

Kepe, Hano Tewa (Ice, apparently Ice, bear; pe, beny). 
? — - . 

Red berries gathered and eaten in summer. 

Pakotseji H , Hano Tewa (palco, said to bean old word; the, yellow). 
Hopi, toHtsma. 



A plant with yellow flowers somewhat resembling Gutierrezia. 
This plant was formerly cooked with meat, or, dipped in salt water, 
was eaten with new corn. 

Sojomelep^e (HanoTewa),' urinal-pot plant' (sojo, urine; mele, pot; 
p*e, plant). 



A plant bearing large roundish seed-vessels. 

Taje\l, Hano Tewa (iaje, unexplained; 'a, sweetness). 
f Atriplex sp. Orache. 
At Hano the young leaves and stalks are eaten, boiled, in spring. 

Sip\ilv?i (Hano Tewa), 'stomach swelling' (si, belly; p'ulu, 
swell). This is a second Hano name. 



Tatar), Hano Tewa (said to mean ' spread wide'). 
Any plant having leaves spread wide on the sand would be so called. 
The Hano people never eat this plant for fear their stomachs would 
swell. 

Tamy, (Hano Tewa), 'grass bag' (ta, grass, my, bag). 



A grass used to cover the hatchway- of the estufa (kiva) when 
warmth or privacy is needed. 

Titimpe, Hano Tewa (unexplained). 
% . 

Described as a flowering plant. 

Towassglsg,, Hano Tewa (1 towa, people, Indian; sxl%, stew, boil). 



A plant which is eaten, boiled. 
Tsilcu, Hano Tewa (unexplained). 



Rabbit-sticks, musical rasps, stirring-sticks for cooking, shade- 
sticks, lease-rods, and h eddies for weaving are made of this hard, 
knotty wood. 



76 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull,. 55 



II. Cultivated Plants 

INDIGENOUS PLANTS 
The Tewa Economy 

At the time of the Spanish discovery the Tewa were cultivating, it 
would seem, maize, beans, pumpkins and other gourds, cotton, and 
tobacco. The Spaniards added to the native resources by introducing 
wheat, 1 oats, barley, chile, onions, other kinds of beans, peas, water- 
melons, muskmelons, peaches, apricots, and apples. The English- 
speaking Americans have introduced no food plant of importance. 

No doubt the Spaniards' importations into New Mexico were not 
accepted without a struggle, but at the present day most of these 
plants constitute an indispensable factor of native life: they are re- 
garded as "Indian food" which may be eaten in the estufa, and they 
are named in the ritual formulas and prayers. Thus, a Tewa at San 
Ildefonso described the people as praying in the estufa "for all the 
things they want to have — corn, wheat, melons, watermelons, onions, 
chiles, apples, peaches, all things they have to eat — and clothes, shoes; 
and a long life, to live to be old men." 

The comparatively recent introduction of " store food" by the Amer- 
icans — machine-milled flour, sugar, bacon, lard, canned goods — tends 
to invest all home-grown foods with a kind of autochthonous prestige. 

Even in Arizona, the refuge of those Pueblo peoples who detested the 
Spanish rule and influence, melons and watermelons, chiles, and onions 
won their way. But the ritual songs at Hano name no foreign plants, 
only corn, beans, pumpkins, and cotton, sometimes coupled with the 
name of kwxlu (Peritoma serrulatum), an important wild food plant. 2 

These cultivated plants were supplemented by a very wide knowl- 
edge and use of edible wild plants. But nowadays, although wild 
berries and nuts are still gathered in autumn and green weeds are 
eagerly sought and eaten in the spring, there is a very general and 
increasing neglect of all but the most common and best-liked. For- 
merly it was a matter of necessity that the housewife should know 
them and store them; for although in normal years they were merely 
a pleasant addition to the diet, yet drought, flood, fire, or a hostile 
raid might destroy the crops at any time, thus making the wild prod- 
ucts an indispensable resource. 3 At times when old people ate only 
once in three da}^s in order to leave food for the children, no eatable 

i The wheat grown at Moenkapi, a Hopi farming village, is of more modern introduction. 

2 Cf. W. Matthews, The Mountain Chant: a Navajo Ceremony (5th Ann. Hep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 
448 and plate xvn). A dry painting represents the four principal plants: The corn plant, painted 
Avhite, assigned to the god (Yay) of the east; the bean plant, blue, to the god of the south; the pump- 
kin vine, yellow, to the god of the west; the tobacco plant, black, to the god of the north. 

3 Cf. Hough, Amer. Anthr., x, p. 37, 1897. The Hopi call Acanthochiton wrightii "ancient Hopi food n 
and say that it has often warded off famine, springing up as it does before the corn is filled out. 



FRlflB-MrRREC 1 © ™^] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 77 

substance was likely to be overlooked. 1 But the coming of the rail- 
way has changed all this; and a shortage of crops, general or individ- 
ual, is now supplied, not from the savings of former years or by the 
substitution of wild plants, but by earning American mone}^ to buy 
American provisions. 2 

The people gain immensely in protection against want; but, at least 
in the present transition period, they decline in thrift. Idleness and 
resourcelessness are as disastrous as ever, but they are not so obviously 
irreparable. The nearer a pueblo lies to a railroad and stores, the 
more do families tend to live from hand to mouth, raising and storing 
less corn than will carry them through the year, selling corn extrava- 
gantly for luxuries, and meeting every emergency by recourse to 
store flour. The Tewa pueblos, which are all near the railroad and 
open to American influence, are particularly affected; while the people 
of Santo Domingo, near the railroad indeed but fenced in by their 
conservatism, are still rich in native food and thrifty in the use 
of it; "they sell but they do not buy." 3 Still it must be said that 
some Tewa women make an intelligent use of modern resources, feed- 
ing their families on store flour (paid for by the husband's and chil- 
dren's earnings) in the early winter while it is comparatively cheap, 
and reserving their own wheat and maize for the time when prices 
rise. 4 Valuing their time cheaply, they will travel miles to buy at the 
smallest advantage. 5 Most families make debts in the late summer 
and pay them after harvest. 

1 Several times of scarcity occurred from 1840 to 1860. "Our grandfather told us how poor the peo- 
ple used to be. When they had a good piece of rawhide, such as would be used now for shoe soles, 
they used to roast it, grind it, and make it into bread. He remembered one day when they went to 
a fiesta at Santa Cruz. There had been a piece of bread in the house at suppertime, but they saved 
it for grandmother because she was nursing my father (1852), so she ate it for breakfast and the rest 
went fasting to Santa Cruz. The family whom they visited had no food either, so they came home 
hungry as they went, and on the road they found a little corn dropped from a wagon and took it 
home, ground it, and ate it." (Information communicated by a Tewa informant.) 

The Tewa etiquette of eating bread at meals recalls times of extreme economy— each person breaks 
from the pile of tortillas no more than he can eat at once, and returns any remnant to the common 
stock. Only sick people (and women soon after childbirth) take a whole tortilla at a time. The 
Yavapai etiquette, founded on camp life, is exactly the contrary. 

2 Mr. A. F. Bandelier was told by a Cochiti Indian in 1882 that "formerly the people saved many 
wild plants in autumn in order to have food in spring when the crops gave out." "Now," Mr. 
Bandelier says, "they have become less provident, or more indifferent to such means of subsistence." 
(Information communicated by Mr. Bandelier.) 

3 The Hano people and the Hopi are less affected than are the Tewa in general by modern condi- 
tions, but even among the former thrift is declining. Many women sell maize for sugar and coffee, 
and run short before March; those who make pottery can exchange it for store flour to an indefinite 
extent. Here again commercial facilities and thriftlessness are obviously related; the "nonpro- 
gressive" village of Hotavila, where there are no traders, raises and stores more food per household 
than Oraibi, and very much more than Hano, Walpi, or Sichomovi. 

* A man at Santa Clara said, on February first, that his wife had nine almudas of maize besides her 
own wheat flour. ' ' We are buying flour now and only giving corn to the horses, and then the maize 
will last us [three adults, four children] until I get my new wheat in August, and so we shall not be 
hungry." 

5 It must be added that the present scarcity of meat and hides makes money a necessity in New 
Mexico, and corn must be sold, or wages must be earned. 



78 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



Along with this decline in thrift the diet of the " progressive" Tewa 
pueblos tends to become very monotonous. The standard of variety 
has been lowered. Once the people's own idea of a good diet embraced 
cultivated plants in addition to wild plants in season in considerable 
variety, drawing on the greatest possible number of different food 
plants, since the available quantity of any single plant was limited. 
Now the people draw on the unlimited but unvaried supplies of the 
American store, or on what they can afford to buy of them — white 
flour, coffee, and sugar. To buy what the store offers is less trouble 
than to hunt for plants in the open; further, an ideal of women's work 
and behavior is growing up which rather discourages the old activi- 
ties. The women are not to help to provide food (except by earning 
mone} 7 ), but to keep a clean house, cook, and serve hot meals. 

The standard of variety in cooking has also declined, as may be seen 
by comparing the number of ways in which corn is cooked at Santa 
Clara with those at Hano. Like all Indian arts, cookery is suffering 
from a half -conscious discouragement in which perfection is no longer 
aimed at, because of the overwhelming superiority of American civil- 
ization. Many progressive families deliberately aim at the monoto- 
nous diet of the whites with whom they come in contact, but attain 
onlv a poor imitation of it. 

PLANTS CULTIVATED BY THE TEWA BEFORE THE SPANISH CONQUEST 

ICu, Hano Tewa JcyZuy. 

Zea mays. Maize, Corn. Spanish maiz (New Mexican Spanish 
pronunciation, mats). 
For the names of the various parts of the corn plant see figure 6. 

Varieties of Corn 

Zea mays has a strong tendency to variation in the coat-color of the 
seed, and the Pueblo Indians have long possessed and distinguished 
several varieties based on this character. 1 Castaflo de Sosa 2 noted in 
1 590-91 that the New Mexican pueblos had maize and beans of several 
colors — "el maiz hera de muchas colores, e lo propio es el frisol." 
Since a number of such color-varieties in maize were found in widely 
separated parts of North America at the time of the European dis- 
covery, 3 it is most probable that some of them at least had become 

1 Nordenskiold, Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde, p. 93 (and pi. xlv, description): "Ears of maize 
found in the ruins . . . belong to several varieties, and are yellow (yellowish gray) and (dark) 
reddish-brown. I never found an ear similar in color to the blue corn of the Mokis." 

2 Doc. Ined. de Indicts, xv, 238. 

3 See the following: Thomas Hariot, A Brief and True Reportof Virginia (quoted by Thomas, Mound 
Explorations, 12th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 616): "Pagatowr, a kind of grain so called by the 
inhabitants; the same in the West Indies is called Mayze, Englishmen call it Guiny-wheat or Turkey* 



ROBBIXS, HARRINGTON 
FREIRE-MARRECO 



] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 79 



fixed in or near the area of original domestication, 1 before it came 
into the hands of the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona. On 
the other hand, it is not impossible that the development of color- 
varieties has been carried farther in the Pueblo area than else- 
where. Certain conditions have furthered this process, even among 
an uncivilized people: (1) The fact that the coat-color of the seeds 
lends itself easily to observation and selection. (2) The local custom 
of planting, not in large continuous fields, but in small isolated 
patches of ground chosen for their soil and natural drainage. In such 
situations favorite strains of corn would be easily kept apart; for 
probably a half-mile interval of broken ground would protect them, 
as a rule, from mixture by means of wind-borne pollen. This is the 
method still followed by the Hopi and the Tewa of Hano, who have 
no artificial irrigation except in the rare terrace gardens below 
springs. Clans and individuals have their separate fields. Thus, at 
Walpi the Snake clan and their connections plant in a wide sandy 
wash, in Tewa called a potfwiintiba (po, water; tfu, enter; ndba, 
field), southwest of the mesa. The .Cloud clan plants southeast of the 
mesa; some of the Fox clan plant ten miles away, near Keam's Can- 
yon; the Tewa have a group of fields far up the wash to the north- 
east. These are the clan fields, and they are of considerable size; 
but individuals make their "first planting," 'ijnbipa? a deko, in early 
spring on tin} 7 isolated flood plains made by damming the water in 
sheltered gullies. At Mishongnovi some of the Hopi make their 
"first planting" in very small walled fields of sand lodged on 
the rocky hillside. In the scattered farming settlements, or u clan 
houses " (if we rightly suppose that such existed before the aggrega- 

wheat . . . The grain is about the bigness of our ordinary English peas and not much different in 
form and shape; but of divers colors, some white, some red, some yellow and some blue." 

Beverley, History of Virginia (2d ed., 1722, vol. n, 125-127): " There are four sorts of Indian corn; two 
of which are early ripe, and two, late ripe; all growing in the same manner. . . . The late ripe corn is 
diversify' ed by the shape of the grain only, without respect to the accidental differences in colour, 
some being blue, some red, some yellow, some white, and some streak'd. That therefore which make 
the distinction is the plumpness or shrivelling of the grain; the one looks as smooth and as full as the 
early ripe corn, and this they call flint-corn; the other has a larger grain, and looks shrivell'd with 
a dent on the back of the grain, as if it had never come to perfection; and this they call she-corn." 

John Gerard, The Herball or General Historie of Plants (London, 1597; 2d edition, 1633, chap. 61): 
" Of Turkie Corne. Tlie kindes. Of Turkie comes there be divers sorts, notwithstanding of one stock 
or kindred, consisting of sundry coloured grains, wherein the difference is easy to be discerned . . . 
The graine is of sundry colours, sometimes red, and sometimes white, and yellow, as my selve have 
seene in rnyne owne garden, where it hath come to ripeness." He figures "frumentum indicum 
luteum, Yellow Turkey Wheat," apparently with long dented grains, "frumentum indicum rubrum, 
Red Turkey Wheat," with small dented grains, and "frumentum indicum cccruleum, Blew Turkey 
Wheat," with full smooth grains. 

1 Cf. Cyrus Thomas, in Handbook of American Indians (article Maize): "It is now generally sup- 
posed to have been derived from native grasses— the EuchUzna mexieana of s. Mexico and E. lu.vurians 
of Guatemala, the latter approximating most nearly the cultivated corn." 



80 



BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



tion of clans into villages), even the clan fields must have been small 
and so would have encouraged the isolation of strains. 1 (3) Another 
condition favorable to the restriction of the number of varieties of corn 
was the ancient prejudice against taking seed from other communities. 




Fig. 6.— K'u, Corn plant. 

a, kuy, inflorescence, tassel; b, kqtey, inflorescence stalk; c, k'oxekowh, husk of ear; d, k'oibk'apu, 
stem of ear; e, k'u'uk'owti, leaf-sheath; f, pu'c, rootlets; g, kqtu, pollen; h, s%, silk; i, k'oih, ear; j, kuy, 
cob; k, k'e, grains; 1, ka, leaf; m, k'u'u, cornstalk; n, k'u'upu&t, base of cornstalk; o, pu, root. 

In New Mexico methods have been changed by the establishment 
of villages near permanent streams and the consequent development 

i We understand the nomenclature of Pueblo clans so slightly that it would be rash to assume that 
clans called Early Corn, White Corn, and the like had specialized strains of corn when they joined 
their pueblos. 



™SSt?^Sif aTOir, l ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 81 

of irrigation. But the Tewa of Santa Clara have a strong tradition of 
an earlier state of things: 

In old times, when the people lived on the hills, they had no ditches; the corn 
grew with water purely from the heavens. When it was very dry, the women 
watered it from their jars. 1 Then the people began to plant in the arroyos where 
the water ran, and so, little by little, as best they could, they thought of irrigating. 

The Pueblo Indians have myths which profess to account for the 
variously colored strains of corn. A Zuili myth 2 ascribes the origin of 
the seven kinds (yellow, blue, red, white, streaked, black, all-colored) 
to the selection by their ancestors of large and beautifully colored 
grass seeds, ceremonially planted with feathered wands of the desired 
colors, and fertilized by the ritual union of the youth Yapotuluha 
with the Seven Corn-maidens. The following myth, obtained from a 
Tewa of Santa Clara, was obtained from Miss C. E>. True: 

Long ago the people lived principally on meat; forest fires destroyed the game 
and the people were starving. They went up to Puje 3 and danced for many weeks 
before the caciques could obtain a dream. At last the caciques dreamed; in accord- 
ance with their dreams they made a small hole, placed in it pebbles of six colors 
corresponding to the world-regions, and covered the opening with a stone. The 
people danced again for several weeks; then the caciques looked into the hole and 
saw six corn-plants sprouting in it. From this first planting came the six colored 
varieties of corn. 

The Tewa of New Mexico distinguish seven principal varieties of 
corn, named in the following order: 

1. K K y tsqywxHy, ' blue corn' (ley, corn; tsdyw%, blue), associated 
with the North, personified by K'ytsanu^a^ny, ' Blue Corn Maiden. 

2. ICy tsejiHy, 4 yellow corn' {leu, corn; tse, yellow), associated 
with the West, personified by K'yfsej€a Ja ny, 'Yellow Corn Maiden.' 

3. K K y pViy, 'red corn' (Icy,, corn; pi, red), associated with the 
South, personified by K'yp^imc > a >a ny, 'Red Corn Maiden.' 

4. ICytss^iy, 'white corn' (Icy,, corn; fs%, white), associated with 
the East, personified by K yts%ni? d) a nu, 'White Corn Maiden.' 

5. ITy tsseygeiy, 'many-colored corn' (Jcy, corn; tsxyge, many 
colored), associated with the Above, personified by K"ytssey(je(i H ) 
\C a ny, 'Many-colored Corn Maiden.' 

6. K K y pe?niy, 'black corn' (Icy, corn; pey, black), associated with 
the Below, personified by Kyp'gndi H ^d a ny, 'Black Corn Maiden.' 

7. Kyp^inini, 'dwarf corn,' personified by Ky]finini' > a? a ny, 
'Dwarf Corn Maiden.' 

It will be noticed that the first six of these varieties are associated with 
the cardinal colors and the world- regions, and it seems probable that the 

!Cf. M. C. Stevenson, The Zufii Indians, p. 353. Zufii women carry water in jars to their vegetable 
gardens. 

2Cushing, Zufii Creation Myths, Thirteenth Hep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 392-398. 

a See Harrington, The Ethnogeography of the Tewa Indians, Twenty-ninth Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., 
p. 236. 



82 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOUHJV 



[bull. 5! 



six-fold classification made by the Tewa has been influenced by the fact 
that they possessed maize of six colors; or rather, live, since "many- 
colored maize" is simply maize in which grains of several colors grow 
on the same cob. In addition to the six cardinal colors, intermediate 
colors are recognized; see Color-adjective Compounds, p. 32. The 
seventh variety, p % inin% or Vujiinini (Jc k %l, maize; pinini, midget, 
dwarf, 4 small, weazened person' appears to be from Spanish pigmeo, 
New Mexican pronunciation pinineo, pigmy), is a kind of corn with 
small ears and small yellowish-white grains. The Tewa state, how- 
ever, that they have had this variety of corn from immemorial times. 
The name has sometimes been translated "sweet corn" by the Ameri- 
cans and mats didce by the Mexicans. The introduced sweet corn, 
however, is distinguished as : 

ITu 'a'iy, 'sweet corn' (¥y,, maize; sweet). Sweet Corn. New 
Mexican Spanish maiz dulce. Hodge gives Ku n aii-td6a as a Sweet 
Corn clan at San Ildefonso. 

At the present time (1912) the largest proportion of the corn raised 
at Santa Clara is "blue" and "white". "Blue" corn, Icy, tsqywirfy), 
is almost black in coat-color, but, when ground, it produces a blue-pur- 
ple meal. "Black " corn, Vy J>£nw), has a dusty, gray -black surface. 
Indian yellow corn, ¥y, tsejViy, is not raised at Santa Clara, but there 
is a fine strain of it at Tesuque. One or two men at Santa Clara raise 
American yellow corn. A dark-red variety mottled with black was 
introduced four } 7 ears ago from J emez. 

The Tewa of Hano distinguish the following strains, naming them 
in the same order as do the Hopi: 

ICy,ly,n tk£% yellow corn — North. 

ICylun tsqywwS, blue corn— West. 

K*yly,m fv% red corn — South. 

K^ulyn tss£?% white corn — East. 

K'ulum p(?ni, black corn — % Below. 

lCyliLnbr/iax(je > % mixed-colored corn — '( Above. 

P' in in '/.■' ijjy, d warf corn. 

Mclej), a dwarf corn cultivated by the ancestors; archaic name, 
jele. 

Intermediate colors are also named, as — 

Ifylyrfdi, gray corn. 
K'uliji/i, f)i/.s;rj/> ii, pink corn. 
HTylym ^ip K ^n% dark-red corn. 

Treatment op Corn 

Corii is planted by the Rio Grande Tewa in April. As with all 
other seeds, it should be sown under a waxing moon, so as to grow 
with the moon; under a waning moon the seeds cease growing. Not 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



Bulletin 55 plate 7 




B. WILD SQUASH (CUCURBITA FCETIDISSIMA), A TRAILING FORM IN CANYONS. 



ftOBBINS, HARRINGTON, 
FREIRE-MARRECO 



] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 83 



everyone knows the right time: , for sowing; some men know the 
time for one crop and some for; other seeu, ' imes women help to 
plant by dropping seeds after the mei? s; but tL 

The corn is gathered in late September or ; ■ Qctober, after the 
watermelons have been taken. The gobernador proclaims the day on 
which people are to begin to take their corn, and at the more con- 
servative pueblos, for instance at Nambe, no one dares to take it before 
the time. 

At Santa Clara the people do not plant a field for the cacique, nor 
have they done so within the last 50 years. They used to plant a 
field in common for the support of the church. 

Occasionally women help to gather " their corn," but most of the 
work is done by the men, who pick the ears by hand and place them 
in sacking aprons, leaving the stalks to be cut down with a scythe. 
They bring the ears to the pueblo in a wagon the sides of which have 
been inclosed with cottonwood saplings and cornstalks, and pile them 
in the plaza before their houses, for husking. 

The pueblo of San Ildefonso is swept before the corn is brought 
home, "because corn is just the same as people and must have the 
plaza clean, so that the corn will be glad when we bring it in." 

Men, women, and children spend several days husking the corn, 
going to help relations when the work for their own household is done. 
The men and boys chop the stalks with axes; within living memory 
sharp stones were used for the purpose. A large pile of husks is soon 
formed against which the women sit; the master of the house presides 
and takes special charge of the best ears. 

An ear on which no grain has developed is called ta haHy, ' lazy 
grass' (ta, grass; ba, lazy), and the same jesting reproach is used to a 
lazy woman who will not grind. When such an ear is found in the 
course of husking, a man or boy will strike a woman with it, crying, 
ta baHyf, reproaching her as a poor housewife. If both parties are 
young, this assault leads to much romping and struggling; the girl 
protests that, lazy or not lazy, nothing would induce her to marry that 
boy; he chases her and rolls her playfully in the .corn husks, while the 
elders laugh indulgently. The little girls carry large ears of corn in 
their shawls, calling them their children. The whole tone of the work 
is gay and enthusiastic. 

The better ears are selected for seed at the time of husking, each 
person laying aside such as appear to come up to the standard, which 
naturally varies from year to year according to the general quality of 
the crop. These ears, called Jcowaju, are not entirely stripped, but 
two or three strips of husk, Icowa, are left attached to them. The 
master of the house reminds the helpers to save the good ears by say- 
ing biyFovmju'q (biy, ye, three or more — them; k'owaju, choice ears; 
'4, do). He may tell them also to save clean husks for smoking and 



84 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



other uses, biylcowapa (biy, ye, tiaree or more — them; Jcowa, husk, 
skin; jxf, make). The ///,a< tf"Jffi V • •• lnrlor1 over to the master at the 
end of the day, and the^PSP^ears are tossed up on the roof or on 
a platform built of cottonwood poles and branches, or are laid on a bed 
of logs — in any place that is dry and well drained. 

When the husking is finished the master clears away the husks, rak- 
ing them over to find piles of Jcowaju unwittingly covered up in the 
heap, and next day he makes the Jcy?op K iie (fry,, corn; 'op*Ue, braid), 
fastening the Jcowaju in a long braid by means of the strips of husk 
attached to them. Most men sort the Jcowaju according to color, 
making one braid (Spanish ristra) of blue ears, another of white, and 
so on. It is recognized that a crop of corn will alwa} T s be more or 
less mixed in color; that, if one sows all blue corn, " some white is 
sure to mix in it from another field." But most men, by continuing 
to select the whole blue and whole white ears each year for seed, keep 
up approximately a white strain and a blue strain. 

The ristras when finished are set up to dry, resting on the points of 
the ears, and afterward are hung over the parapet of the roof. 

Certain ears are saved for seed with the husk on; these are called 
Jc ode, or JcodeJc owaywog_ebo J ° (F o^e, ear of corn; ¥owa, skin; ywog.ebd' , 
withal). It is said that these are not husked until the spring, when 
the kernels are sown before any of the other seed. Some husked ears 
of white corn set apart in the houses have spruce twigs tied on them. 

Dwarf corn, parched and made into ristras, is hung on the parapet 
to dry. 

All this is man's work. 

Miss C. D. True informed the writer that the seed corn is the sub- 
ject of a winter ceremony 1 in which all the heads of houses take part, 
and that after this ceremony it may not be touched except by the head 
of the house. 2 

Seed corn should be kept over until the second year; that is, corn 
gathered in 1912 should be sown in 1914. If sown the very next year, 
it is supposed to germinate less quickly. 

An informant at San Ildefonso gave the same rule: 

The old women are like that; they know from very old times, and they keep the 
corn for seed; some they sow the next year, but some they keep for the year after. 3 
Then, if no corn should grow this year there would still be some to sow the year 

1 Possibly identical with the Winter Solstice Ceremony at Hano. See Fewkes, Amer. AnChr., n. s., 
r, no. 2, pp. 251-276. 

2 The statement is made, but on doubtful authority, that the Keresof Santo Domingo represent in 
their August dance the coming of messengers from destitute pueblos to beg seed-corn from Santo 
Domingo. 

3 Fray Juan de Escalona, writing in October, 1601, from San Gabriel in the Tewa country, says that 
"the captain-general and his officers have sacked the villages, robbing them of their corn of which 
they had six years' store, so that now they are eating wild seeds mixed with charcoal." (Quoted by 
Torquemada, Monarchia Indiana, lib. v.) 



FSE-M?R A ifE R c I o GTON '] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 85 

after. 1 They do the same with melon and watermelon seeds. They want to keep 
the corn of the pueblo. We could buy other seed, and perhaps better, from white 
people; or we could get seed from other pueblos; but the old men do not want that. 
They want to keep the very corn of the pueblo, because the corn is the same as the 
people. 

At Santa Clara, however, seed corn is often imported; one man 
showed a strain of red corn from J emez and proposed to get white 
corn from a friend at Taos, "because it is very cold there, and their 
corn ought to ripen early here." Other men said that corn from a 
distant place generally grew larger and better. While they lay stress 
on color, size of ears, and quick growth and ripening, they seem to 
neglect depth of planting. But for sowing they prefer the large grains 
from the lower part of the ear. A few men raise American yellow 
maize. 2 The introduction of new food plants, e. g., cabbage, is often 
discouraged by the women, who refuse to cook or eat them. 

The Hano people showed themselves highly averse to exchanging 
seed of their own for that of a New Mexican pueblo, suspecting the 
"intention" of the senders. 

It is said that at Tesuque, where the customs" are admittedly very 
strict, people are allowed to plant only the traditional crops — corn, 
wheat, melons, watermelons, pumpkins, beans, and chile; anyone who 
attempted to sow new crops or American seeds would be punished. 
The same feeling must have been at work in 1680, when the revolted 
Indians burnt wheat, sheep, pigs, and fowls — all Spanish importations — 
along with books and images and vestments. 

The Santa Clara people consider it a proof of their own modern 
liberalism that they allow any kind of seed to be sown. 

The ordinary corn, when it has been husked, comes into the charge 
of the mistress of the house, who sorts it according to quality — 
some for grinding at home, some for sale, some for feed for the 
horses. A widower may be seen doing this work for himself. 
A small quantity of the new corn is shelled off the cob at once and 
dried on cloths in the sun, to make atole next day. When the corn 
has dried in the open air it is taken into the house, sometimes being 
pitched into a storeroom through a chimney hole, and finally the 
master and mistress of the house stack it in a neat pile, sorted accord- 
ing to color or quality. 

As soon as people have husked their own household corn they go to 
help their relations. Widows and orphans and needy persons in 
general help at as many huskings as possible, receiving a present of 
corn at each. "Mexicans" are sometimes hired to help, and men go 
to other pueblos to help relations who are short of help. 

J At the Keres pueblo of Cochiti a field is cultivated by all the people for the benefit of the 
cacique. He is expected to keep the corn from this field as a reserve over the next year, in case the 
people's corn should fail or be destroyed. 

2 The Hopi are said to be willing and anxious to use American seeds. 

67961°— Bull. 55—16 7 



86 



BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



The pueblo is finally swept of the litter of husks late in October, 
generally in preparation for a dance. 

Property in Corn 

Standing crops are the property of men, usually the heads of house- 
holds. Boys often have fields assigned to them by their fathers or 
bequeathed by their mothers' relations, which they plant and call their 
own, although they put the corn into the family stock. Crops once 
housed belong to the mistress of the house, who has to store and care 
for them, so as to feed the family during the year. She uses, gives, 
and sells the corn at her discretion, making a daily allowance for- her 
husband's horses and, at his request, for those of guests. A man 
always speaks of the stored corn and other food as 4 ' my wife's " and 
does not dispose of it without her leave. Sometimes he speaks of it 
as hers while it is still in the fields. 

The seed corn belongs to the man. 

Hay and corn-shocks, which are stacked on platforms over the cor- 
rals, fenced with boughs and tall cornstalks, belong to the man. 

Grinding Corn 

The Pueblo method of grinding maize on the metates, '0, has often 
been described. 1 In the Tewa villages of New Mexico the younger 
women do not learn to grind, and few new houses are furnished with 
metates; when the occupants need corn meal they grind at an older 
house, or put a small quantity through the coffee mill. This means 
the practical abandonment of maize as human food in favor of wheat. 
Older women contrast their own hands, in which certain muscles are 
largely developed, while the finger-nails are worn down obliquely by 
rubbing on the metate, with the slight hands of the girls. In the 
youth of the former — perhaps thirty years ago — women used to rise 
before dawn to grind. When the men were going to the plains to 
trade with the Comanche, the women used to grind whole loads of 
meal for them to carry. Several women would grind together at 
night; they ground the corn successively on four metates ranging from 
rough to smooth. On the first they broke up the corn, and reduced it 
to fine flour on the fourth, toasting it after each grinding. Meanwhile 
the men sang the grinding song (a tune without words, still known), 
or beat a drum, and the women kept time to the music with slow regu- 
lar strokes. There is a story that in ancient times women did not have 
to grind; they merely laid themano and the corn on the metate and it 
ground itself. 

At Hano grinding is still the daily occupation of women. Where 
there are several women in a house, the unmarried girls are set to 
grind, while the married women fetch water. Girls grind for their 



' Cf. MindeleiT, Eighth Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn., p. 211; Cushing, Zuni Bread-stuff. 



ROBBIXS. HAR B I X C X O X 
FREIRE-MAKRECO 



N »] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 87 



father's sisters, and make parties to do the same work in one anoth- 
er's houses; married women grind occasionally for their mothers-in- 
law. Girls sing while they grind, and smear their faces with meal 
before and after grinding; and this is playfully recommended as a 
way of learning the task. They also powder their faces with meal 
when they are in full dress. 

Ritual Use of Corn- meal 

The ritual use of leaser) or Fxmboiva by the New Mexican Tewa 
is necessarily attended with so much reserve and secrecy that it will be 
more convenient to describe here some of the practices of the Tewa of 
Hano. 

White corn-meal is primarily the women's offering, as feathers are 
the offering of the men, but to a less degree each is used by the other 
sex. The action of offering corn meal is called doFuluyFili, ^[scat- 
ter] corn grains' (do, I— it; F%l1]L7), corn; Fill, grain), or, rarely, $o 
Fsemu (do, I-it; Fsemii, unexplained). In this manner women pray 
to the sun at sunrise, asking for long life, dtbijowowa > d , ° (dibi, they 
themselves; jowotva, pray for life; o-°, do), especially when giving 
names to infants or adults. By throwing meal on the Fajete e , ' fetish 
house' or 'shrine,' and saying their wish aloud, they ask favors of 
the ~kacliina. They take corn-meal, FuluyFili, in their hands when 
they go to dig clay for pottery. A song represents a woman praying 
with corn-meal for the success of her husband, who has gone to trade 
in the New Mexican pueblos: 

' ' At daybreak 
taking k'yluykHU with her, 
going out on the roof, 
sprinkling it eastward (she says). 
Buffalo hides he shall find for me, 
costly things he shall find for me. 
So she says, 

she sprinkles it in all directions." 

When a rabbit is given to a woman she lays it on the floor and drops 
meal on it " to feed it." 

When the impersonators of the Jcachina visit a house, the women 
welcome them by throwing corn-meal to each in turn. Similarly, when 
the Tcachina visit an estufa, the td etynjo, 'estufa chief,' makes a cir- 
cuit of them before they begin their performance, throwing a pinch 
of meal to each from the bag, HbiFuluFilimy^^iM, his; Fuly,, corn; 
Fili, grain; my,, bag), which hangs from his neck, and on some occasions 
the senior woman of the clan which controls the estufa is stationed 
behind the ladder with meal in her hand ready to throw as the visiting 
Tcachina pass. At public dances in the plaza several old men pass 
along the line of dancers, throwing meal to each and uttering requests 



88 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



on behalf of the village; the clowns (kosaJcojala) also wear meal-bags 
and occasionally sprinkle from them. 1 

When the people have planted for a chief and he exhibits his Fuluy'a, 
6 dressed corn ' (F-^Z^t?, corn; clothing, dressed), all the people throw 
corn-meal and pray to it. 

Two kinds of ritual " road," polorj, are made with corn-meal. One 
is a line drawn along the path by which visitors are ritually invited to 
enter — Hmbipoloy 'Qyko, 4 their road lies for them ' (p'oloy, road; 'o??, 
it for them ; ko, to lie) — whereas a path is ritually closed by a line of 
meal drawn across it — ncltsala, 6 it is cut ' (net, it; tsa, to cut ; Z#, modal). 
The other kind of road is a line of meal with a feathered cotton string 
lying on it (or a feathered cotton string carried in a man's hand with 
a pinch of meal), by which absent persons, game animals, etc., are 
invited to travel to the village. 

At the naming of a child or adult (? female only), the face, breast, 
and hands are powdered with corn meal, and the walls of the room 
should be "painted" with meal in four places; the impersonator of 
the sun, fans&ino, " paints " certain houses with meal when he makes 
his rounds in February. 

Cooking of Coen Products 

The following preparations of corn, among others, are eaten by the . 
Tewa of Hano: 

Mowa (Rio Grande Tewa, buwa), wafer bread (New Mexican Spanish 
guallabe), the piki of the Hopi. 2 It is a staple article of food, being 
eaten at the ordinary household meals, and supplied to shepherds and 
travelers as their provision (hsegi); at dances and ceremonies the per- 
formers are refreshed with mowa brought to them by their female 
relations; immense piles of mowa are given as return presents (wo' a, 
pa}^) from one household to another. 

In most households mowa is made once a week or once a fortnight 
and stored in a box, from which it is dealt out by the mother or eldest 
daughter as it is needed. Parties of women meet to make mowa in 
one another's houses. 

iTorquemada's informant from San Gabriel (1601) writes: "At daybreak the women go with meal 
and feathers to certain toscas stones, which they have set up, and throw them a little of the meal 
which they are carrying and some of those little feathers, with the intent that they should keep them 
[the women] safe that day so that they may not fall from the ladders, and also that they should give 
them dresses {mantas)." 

Benavides says (1630) that the Pueblo Indians before going out to fight offered " meal and other 
things" to the scalps of enemies whom they had slain; that they offered meal to the heads of deer, 
hares, rabbits, and other dead animals before hunting, and to the river before fishing. Women who 
desired lovers offered meal to stones or sticks which they set up for the purpose on hillocks at a 
distance from the pueblo. 

2 The Zuni recipes for wafer bread ("he'we"), tortillas (" he'yahoniwe ", dumplings, light bread 
("he'palokla "=tyuwak'o), doughnuts ("mu'tsikowe"), hominy (="chu'*sikwanawe"), roasted 
sweetcorn (mi'lo'we), popped corn (" ta'kunawe "), are given by Mrs. Stevenson. (See The Zuni 
Indians, pp. 361-367, and Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians, passim.) 



ROBBIXS, HARRINGTON 
FREIRE-MARRECO 



'] ETHXOBOTAXY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 89 



Mowa is made on a rectangular slab of fine-grained stone, about 3 feet 
square, laboriously hewn and polished, called mowaku (mowa, bread; 
leu, stone), which rests on stones at the ends or at the four corners. 
This slab stands under a wide open chimney in a special room, mowa- 
huftbe (mowa, bread; leu, stone, place); it is heated by a fire built 
beneath it. A soft liquid dough or batter is prepared in a mixing bowl, 
and when the stone has been thoroughly heated and wiped with a greasy 
rag, a small quantity of the batter is spread over the surface by a 
quick, sweeping motion of the hand, leaving a thin, even layer. In 
a few seconds this layer of dough is so far cooked that it can be peeled 
off entire by one of its corners; it is laid aside on a wickerwork tray, 
and a second layer is spread on the stone. While this is cooking, the 
first sheet of mowa is laid over it again to benefit by the heat; then the 
first and second sheets are removed, a third layer is spread, and the 
second sheet is laid above the third for extra cooking; and soon. 
When a bowlful of the batter has been used, there is a pause in the 
work; the semitransparent sheets are folded in four, and sometimes 
the four-fold sheets are rolled into cylinders. In either shape they 
may be eaten fresh or stored for future use; they keep good for a 
fortnight or more. Stale mowa may be broken up fine and toasted, 
dipped into cold water, or mixed with boiling water into a porridge. 

Mowa is generally made of "blue" corn-meal, with the addition of 
ashes stirred into the dough, turning it to a rich greenish blue. The 
ashes of ta^jxy (Atriplex canescens), gathered for the purpose in 
summer, are preferred; but late in the winter, if the stock of ta? a j%y is 
exhausted, ashes of sheep's dung are used. " Blue" corn-meal with- 
out ashes makes purple-gray mowa; white mowa is made of white 
corn-meal; red and yellow moiva, used by certain kachina, is made by 
mixing vegetal dyes in the dough. 1 

The ordinary mowa consists of fine meal with the addition of ashes 
and a little salt; ^qsse?im mowa ('#, unexplained; sse, bitter) is made 
with the addition of a larger quantity of salt; ^qksem mowa 
sweetness; ksey, pour from the mouth) was formerly made of dough 
sweetened by mixing with it chewed meal or stale mowa broken up 
fine and chewed, but it is now sweetened with sugar. 

'AtUPi Cq, unexplained; tilPi, dots or specks) are made by drop- 
ping small quantities of batter at intervals on the hot stone, much as 
white people make pancakes. 

Mowanusege (mowa, bread; nusege may describe size or shape of the 
cakes) consists of corn just beginning to ripen, ground on a single 
metate in the field shelter. The dough is formed into flat oblong 
cakes, about the size of the palm of the hand, which are rolled and 



1 The Hopi prepare a red dye for kachina pz'fce from the seeds of AmarantTius palmrri Watson, which 
they cultivate in terrace gardens around the springs. They color pike also with the ashes of ParryeUa 
fili folia, and cf. Atriplex canescens. (Hough, Amer. Anthr., vol. x, no. 2, 1S97, pp. 39, 40.) 



90 



BUREAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



baked in the oven of a modern stove (kwsekup x a) ; formerly these were 
baked on small stones over a bed of hot coals. 

MowatoWo (mowa, bread; to, unexplained; ¥o, bake, roast, broil) 
is made of blue corn-meal mixed with sugar and ashes of tajsey, 
stirred with a stick in boiling- water. As it cools, the mass is mixed 
thoroughly with the hands. A handful of the dough is put into 
a corn-husk, the edges of which are wrapped over the dough and 
the ends turned down, and the whole is baked in an oven. To make 
the oven, four stones are set up to enclose a rectangular space, in 
which a fire is built; the hot embers are reduced to fine fragments 
which are spread in an even layer, and on which thin stone slabs are 
laid. On these are placed the corn-husk packets, weighted down 
with smaller stones. At the present time the oven of an ordinary 
cooking stove is often used. 

Tsinimowatsigi (tsini, chile; mowa, bread; tsigi, pinch) may be 
made as follows: Shape into flat cakes dough composed of rather 
coarse white corn-meal and water. On each cake lay a piece of meat 
and sprinkle over it powdered chile. Tie up the cakes in corn-husk 
and drop them into boiling water. This article of diet more nearly 
resembles the New Mexican tamale than does the following: 

Tamali ( < Span, tamale) , rolls of corn-meal dough boiled. 

Melesxlx, 'dumplings' (m-ele, ball; sxlx, cook, boil, stew). 

Over blue corn-meal mixed with a small quantity of ashes boiling 
water is poured; the mixture is then stirred and kneaded into dough. 
This is rolled into little balls between the palms of the hands, which 
are dropped into boiling water to cook. 

^Ahxmmele ('g, sweetness; hsey, pour from the mouth; mde, ball) 
are dumplings made of corn-meal mixed with ashes, sweetened, for- 
merly with chewed meal, now with sugar, and boiled. The balls are 
larger than melesxlx, being about 2k inches in diameter. These 
dumplings are used as a supper dish. 

Mapisselx (mafti, squeeze; sselx, cook, boil, stew). Coarse blue 
corn-meal mixed with a small quantity of ashes is made into dough. 
Small pieces of this dough pressed between the fingers and palm of 
the closed hand are dropped into boiling water. When cooked these 
are eaten with fried chile, tsinitsile (tsini, chile; tsile, cook, parch, or 

fry). ; 

Three kinds of corn gruel are classed together: 'aFfgy, Fulumputsi, 
and kijx. 'AFsey ('a, unexplained; Fxy, meal) is made by sifting 
coarse blue corn-meal (without ashes) with the hands into boiling 
water and stirring with a stick ^qlcxmpe). Until the introduction 
of coffee and tea, this gruel was the usual morning drink. Kij% 
(archaic name, meaning now unknown), a gruel of rather coarse corn- 
meal mixed with ashes and salt, sifted into boiling water and stirred 
with the V/7-' %m p*e, is seldom eaten now. K K yZ%Lmputsi (Fy,ly,, corn: 



1™!!!™^°™^] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 91 

putsi, unexplained) was made by sifting coarse meal of p'intni corn 
into boiling water. 

fakewe is cooked like 'aFxy, but with less water, making a stiff, 
rather dry, crumbling porridge, which can be handled in lumps. It 
is eaten in the morning and at other times instead of 'oJciygi^ or mowa, 
especially with pot liquor from boiled meat. Shepherds make an im- 
itation of / akewe by sifting and stirring crumbled mowa into boiling 
water. 

MowaFoke {mowa, bread; Fo bake, roast, broil; he, put down) is 
eaten at sunrise on festive occasions, as the final feast of a wedding, 
the naming of a child, or when the Tcachina come. The impersonators 
of the Icachina can not go to their houses for breakfast, and so their 
female relatives carry mowaFoke and mowa to them. Two handfuls 
of wheat are put into a small basket or dish, sprinkled with water, 
covered with a cloth, and allowed to stand three or four days, until 
sprouted. White corn, after being soaked for a few minutes to loosen 
the outer skin, is ground on the first (coarse) metate; after the meal is 
well sifted it is ground fine. The sprouted wheat, ground, is mixed 
with the corn dough. The mixture, thoroughly stirred, is put into a 
vessel (formerly an earthenware pot, now a tin can lined with corn- 
husk or corn-leaves), which is covered with corn- husks, and baked at 
night in the mowaFote, 'oven' (mowa, bread; Fo, to bake; te, house). 
This is a rectangular pit, 18 to 24 inches deep, cut in the rock outside 
the house and lined with slabs of stone. In this pit a fire is made; 
when it is hot, the embers are reduced to fragments and the vessel is 
set among them; the opening is closed with a slab of stone, sealed with 
clay, and a fire built on top. Next morning the vessel is taken out 
and the mowaFoke is stirred with a stick. 

Mowasey (mowa, bread; sey, horn). Dough is made of blue corn- 
meal, with ashes and sugar; portions of the dough wrapped in corn- 
leaves are dropped into boiling water. When green corn-leaves, 
mowasgyFowa (Fowa, skin, husk) are saved for wrappers, they are 
coiled into wheel-shaped bundles and tied with yucca strips. When 
wanted, a bundle is soaked in warm water to soften it before being 
untied. 

Mowatsigi and mowatsigi' e (tsigi, pinch, constrict; '<g, diminutive). 
Dough is made of blue corn-meal with the addition of sugar and 
ashes of tajxy; small portions of the dough, wrapped in pieces of 
corn-husk and tied tightly in two places with shreds of yucca, are 
dropped into boiling water. When men and boys go to gather snow 
for the women of their fathers' clans, the women make mowatsigi 
to pay them; they go to meet the men returning from the work and 
tie the little packets to their forelocks. Some Tcachina bring mowa- 
tsigi? e to the children 



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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



P'uywse, parched corn. The corn should be parched on hot sand in 
a meal-drying pot, ¥%lamele (k*%, corn-meal; ia, dry; mele, pot), 
over the fire, so that the kernels burst into " pop-corn"; but now the 
corn is often roasted in an American oven. As it is eaten it is sea- 
soned by moistening with a piece of corn-cob dipped into salt water 
contained in a dish set near by for the purpose. 

Kxntstfir) (k*%y, corn-meal; tsi, % parch, cook), parched corn-meal, 
Spanish pinole, comprises several varieties. The commonest is meal 
oijpinini corn very finely ground which has been roasted at the time 
of harvest, the meal being dried over the fire after each grinding, on 
the coarse, medium, and fine-grained metates. IC^ntsi^iy with mowa 
is the conventional food of travelers; it can be mixed with cold water 
and drunk without further preparation, and it is very nourishing. 
Some of the Jcachina, when they visit the houses, require the unmar- 
ried girls to grind k'sentsi^iy for them. 1 

' (fkiygi (New Mexican Tewa, buwalcada; New Mexican Spanish, 
tortilla) is a round flat cake of unleavened bread of corn-meal or 
wheat flour, baked on the hearth or on a small hot stone. Okiygi is 
the general word for bread. 

'Ummoivakala (tyy, blood; mowa, bread; Icala, thick) are cakes of 
corn-meal mixed with fresh ox blood, baked in the oven. 

Putasselsg (puta, unexplained; sselse, cook, stew, boil) are round flat 
cakes, about five inches in diameter and one inch in thickness, with a 
hole in the middle, made of blue corn-meal or of pinini corn-meal. 

Kqpowsenu (Jed, fat; po, water, liquid; weenu, drip) were formerly 
made of white corn-meal and water and were fried in mutton grease. 
Now they are generally made of commercial wheat flour, with the 
addition of baking powder and salt. After being well kneaded the 
dough is made up with the fingers into very thin disks about nine 
inches in diameter, with one or two slits or holes in each. These are 
fried one by one in deep fat, — mutton grease, lard, or pig's fat rend- 
dered down; — being carefully turned. They become golden-brown 
and puff up crisply, like very light doughnuts. Iiapowxnu are 
eaten on festive occasions; being quickly made, they are esteemed a 
delicacy proper for entertaining guests. 

jPsedi, hominy. White corn is put into warm water with ashes of 
corn-cobs, and boiled, more water being added if necessary, until it 
swells up to three times its original bulk. After the ashes are thor- 
oughly washed out the corn is boiled again, with mutton. 

At the pueblo of Santa Clara the preparation of maize foods has 
certainly declined in late years — partly on account of the growing 

1 The pinole of the Pima is made by grinding corn not merely roasted but popped. (Pfefferkorn, 
Beschreibung der Landschaft Sonora, 1705, quoted by Russell in Twenty-sixth Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., 
p. 67.) Dough made of k'qinl.sVin is called taivgqi. Some of the kachina give figurines of animals 
made of this dough to the children. 



ROBBINS, HARRINGTON 
KREIRE-MARRECO 



'] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 93 



popularity of wheat flour, native and commercial, and the disinclina- 
tion of the women to grind maize on the metates; also in common 
with the general economic deterioration which accompanies the use of 
money and the proximity of American stores. Only a few prepara- 
tions have been noted in common use, but it is probable that others 
survive in connection with various ceremonies. Buwa 1 or bitwajawe 
(jawe, to tear off a layer) (paper-bread, wafer-bread, New Mexican 
Spanish guallabe, Hopi jpiki, Zuni hewe) is made by methods similar to 
those described under mowa, page 89, but the blue color is given by add- 
ing lime. Perhaps half a dozen houses in the pueblo have rooms for 
making buwa, and the hewn stones, buwalcu, which are obtained in trade 
from the pueblo of Jemez. 2 Bmva is not in everyday use: it is made 
for festivals and ceremonies, and the women who can make it are 
respected for the accomplishment. 

Buwakada 3 (buwa, bread; Ica^a, thick) — Spanish tortilla de maiz — 
is a flat, round, unleavened cake of blue corn-meal, baked on a hot 
stone over the fire. It is fully as thin as the wheat tortilla, and is 
called "thick" to distinguish it from butva, 4 water-bread.' 

The Tewa say that their ancestors used the fat of deer to lighten 
their bread. Maize bread can be made of meal and water only, with- 
out grease, but, thus made, it is hard and heavy. 

'Agse, corn- meal gruel, Spanish atole, usually made of "blue" corn- 
meal, is still in fairly regular use, and is the prescribed diet for the 
sick, either alone or served with ssepo, liquor from boiled meat (sse 
stew; fto, water, liquid), or with dried beef. 

fakewe is stiff porridge made of ' ' blue " or red corn-meal. 

'Ag% and f akeive are the conventional breakfast foods. 

Dumplings were formerly made by dropping balls of corn-meal 
dough into boiling water. The old men liked to sit by the pot so as 
to be ready to pick out with a splinter of wood the dumplings as fast 
as they were cooked, and eat them hot. 

White corn is boiled with mutton or beef; the stew is called posoli 
(<Span. jposole). Hominy does not seem to be in use, but Escalona 

1 $uwa (Hano tewa mowa) is a general term for breadstuff made of maize, but specially for wafer- 
bread, guallabe. In fact, at Santa Clara as at Hano, unless thejmwa is further specified as fyuwakaua, 
tyuwak'o, etc., it may be taken for granted that guallabe is meant. At San Ildefonso \uwa seems to be 
applied more generally; thus, an informant from San Ildefonso translated "our daily bread" by 
na'prfyi fyuwa t'amuywagi'i'i, whereas at Santa Clara it would probably be translated nq' imtyi pafta 
(?<Span. pan). 

2 The Zuni lubricate the stone with the oil of chewed squash seeds, the Tewa of Santa Clara with 
marrowfat (pek'uyka, 'bone grease'), the Tewa of Hano with any animal grease (kqp'ek'uy, bone 
<p'e, stick, k'uy, stiff object; kq, grease). 

s Torquemada's informant (circa 1600) particularly notes that the Tewa of San Gabriel (Chamita) 
did not mix ashes or lime in their atole as did the Indians of Mexico. At the present day the Tewa 
of Santa Clara mix lime, kunu, 'stone ashes,' not in atole or fakeive, but in Quwa and fyuwa kaia. 
The necessary "stone" for burning can be found in Santa Clara Canyon, but, to save trouble, the 
lime is more often bought from "Mexican" peddlers. The Zuni also use lime; the Tewa of Hano 
use vegetal or animal ashes. 



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[bui,l. 55 



(1601) refers possibly to that article of diet when he writes of grass- 
seeds eaten with charcoal as above mentioned. 
Tamade is the Spanish tamale, meat patty. 

Ku7npur)w% pa'-iy, 'pop corn' (Jfy,, corn; p'ytywae, parched corn; 
ft a cracked, to crack), is said to have been usually pinini. 
(San Ildefonso.) 

P'uywsgia, 'pinole' (p'ur/wse, parched corn; ta, to grind) consists 
of parched or popped corn ground into meal. (Santa Clara.) 
(Cf. K'xntsi'ir).) 

Some particulars of the Tewa methods of cooking maize derived 
from letters sent from San Gabriel (Chamita) to Mexico shortly before 
1601 are as follows: 1 

As soon as the ears of Maize have come to be in milk, they gather many of them, 
and having kneaded them make of them a thinly-spread dough, very thin, like puff- 
pastry (hojaldrado), as when one makes Fruta de Sarten (a Spanish delicacy, literally, 
'frying-pan fruit'); and of this Dough so kneaded they make a sort of rools (canelones, 
a sort of sugar-stick) like a supplication [cf. mowanuseae, p. 89] and hang them in the 
sun, and when they are dry they keep them for eating; and when the Ears are 
pretty well hardened (quaxadas, coagulated), they gather many of them, and, after 
parching or roasting them, set them in the sun; and when they are dried, they store 
them [as the Tewa now treat pHniniJcuy] . The rest of the Ears, which are left grow- 
ing, they allow to ripen entirely, to store them in the form of Maize, ready for eating, 
and for sowing at the proper season. They do all of this, because the frosts begin 
very early, and the harvest is in much danger of being lost; and so this manner of 
gathering their food, so as to enjoy some of it, before it be all frozen [and lost] to them. 
Also they gather good Beans, and large and well-flavoured Squashes; they make of 
the kneaded Corn for the morning meal atole, much as Pap or Gruel is made of 
Flour, and this they eat cold any time of the Day; they do not put salt on it, nor 
cook it with lime or ashes, as do these other Indians [i. e. those of Mexico proper] . 
Also they make Tamales [meat with chile powder enclosed in rolls of corn-meal 
dough and boiled] and Tortillas [flat cakes unleavened] as do the Indians here; and 
this is their usual Bread. 

Gifts of Food 

With the New Mexican Tewa, corn-meal and wheat bread, in fact 
all cooked foods — the products of women's industry — pass as appro- 
priate presents from women to men, or between the mistresses of house- 
holds. (The proper present from a man to a woman would be game, 

JTorquemada, Monarchia Indiana, lib. v, cap. xxxx, pp. 678-679. The original Spanish reads as 
follows: 

"Luego que las Macorcas de Maiz llegan a estar cn leche, cogen muchas de ellas, y amasadas, 
hacen una masa de ellas estendida, mui delgada, a manera de hojaldrado, como quando hacen 
Fruta de Sarten; y de esta Masa asi amasada, hacen unos canelones, a la manera, que una supli- 
cacion [cf. mowanuseae], y cuelganlas al Sol.y secas, las guardan para comer; y quando las Macorcas 
van ya quasi quaxadas, cogen muchas de ellas, y tostadas, 6 cocidas, las ponen al Sol; y estando bien 
enjutas, y secas, las guardan [as the Tewa now treat p'ininik'un] . Las demas Macorcas, que quedan 
naciendo, las dexan saconar de el todo, para guardarlas en Maiz, hecho para comer, y para sembrar 
a su tiempo. Todo esto hacen, porque los ielos comiencan mui temprano, y estan las Mieses amucho 
riesgode perderse: y asi tienen este modo de coger su comida, para gocar de alguna, antes que se le 
iele toda. Tambien cogen buenos Frisoles, y Calabacas grandes, y sabrosas; hacen de la Masa de 
Maiz por la manana Atole (como de Harina Gachas, 6 Poleadas) y este comen frio todo el Dia; no le 
echan Sal, ni lo cuecen con cal, ni cenica, como estos otros Indios [i. e. of Mexico] lo cuecen, 
Tambien hacen Tamales y Tortillas, como los de por aca; y este es su ordinario Pan." 



SSS-MrRBE^co GT ° N ' ] ETHNOBOTANY OP THE TEWA INDIANS 05 

firewood, or clothing.) On the eve of a festival they send new bread, 
Fdpowxnu, and pies made of dried peaches and melons, sometimes 
boiled meat, to their neighbors; the present should be folded in a 
cloth and carried under the bearer's head-shawl. The phrase used is 
nsewe ywimma? a , 'here I bring you [this]' {n%we, here; ywiy, I it to 
you 1; ma' a , to give), to which the recipient answers, M, 'yes'; or 
Jc\ipowdenu dimmsegi! 'give me the doughnut!' {diy, you it to me; 
mxgij to give); or Tcu'ndawoHnJia (jtvrjTc qpowxnuja 'thanks, I con- 
gratulate myself that you bring me a doughnut' {ja, to bring); or 
hu 'ndawo' 'iflha dimmxgi, 'thanks, I congratulate myself that you gave 
it me' {(Ivy, you it to me). Emptying the dish, she wipes it and gives 
it to the bearer; or, more ceremoniously, washes dish and cloth 
before returning them next day. 

At festivals, women and girls carry bread, cakes, boiled maet 5 
chile con came, and coffee to the estufa, as refreshment for the dancers: 
they set them in rows on the floor and immediately retire, 'while the 
officials in charge thank them loudly. They also carry boiled meat and 
bread to the house of the winter or summer cacique as the case may be. 
During the It a) Ho, a winter dance at night in the estufa at San Ilde- 
fonso, the women bring to the dancers corn-meal, bread., and some- 
times a Icu'u FodeHy, sl whole corn-stalk with ears, husk, and leaves, 
which they save for the purpose. On the Day of the Kings (January 
6), when the dancers perform before the houses of the newly- 
appointed officials of the pueblo, the officials' wives bestow boiled 
meat, bread, and boiled pumpkin. On All Souls' Day (November 2) 
corn, wheat, beans, peas, watermelons, apples, boiled pumpkins, 
bread, cakes, and pies are brought to the churchyard by women and 
presented to the Catholic priest "for the dead." More conservative, 
and therefore more ceremonious, is a gift of corn-meal piled in an 
Apache basket; it is a suitable offering for a religious functionary or 
for a religious society which is in session, At some dances women 
and girls bring baskets full of meal and set them down before their 
favorite dancers, who are supposed to give a present of game in 
return. This is done, for instance, at the Turtle Dance, 'dkuf cue 
i^oku, turtle; fcue, to dance), at San Juan; and another men's dance 
at Santa Clara has fallen altogether into disuse "because the men are 
afraid to dance; there are some women capable of giving a man nine 
baskets of meal, and now that rabbits are so scarce, he would be 
ruined in buying meat to pay them!" 

At Hano, as in the Hopi villages, the systematic giving and repay- 
ment of food is constant and increasingly lavish: ^ibiwo^a, they pay 
each other,' {4ibi, they each other; wo* a, to pay). Boiled mutton 
with hominy, boiled peaches, boiled pumpkin, but above all vast 
quantities of mowa (wafer-bread) pass from household to household, 
each series of "payments" being closed by the gift of a few ears 



96 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



of corn. Women take mowa, k'qpowxnu, and boiled peaches to the 
dancers at their rehearsals, to the meetings of societies, to men of 
their husbands' clan who are weaving for them, to men who hunt 
rabbits, gather wood, or do them any service. 

. . Various Uses 

Corn -husks, stalks, and leaves are winter forage for stock. Cigar- 
ettes are made of corn-husk (see sa, p. 103). Feathers and flowers 
are bound to prayer-sticks with corn-husk 6 i tape " and corn-silk. 1 The 
framework and mounts for feathers in many ceremonial ornaments are 
made of tightly twisted corn-husk. The Jcosa wear tufts of corn-leaf 
or corn-husk on the peaks of their caps. 

At Hano the ¥a ,a wotokachmawea l r artificial flowers of painted corn- 
husk on their heads. Corn-cobs, Jcuy, are everywhere used as fire- 
lighters and as fuel in emergencies. At Hano a corn-cob tied to the 
estufa ladder and swinging in the smoke which rises from the hatch- 
way means that one of the men who attend that estufa has not yet 
brought his contribution of firewood for the ceremony in progress; 
the idea suggested is that by his negligence his comrades are reduced 
to burning cobs for fuel. 

Corn-cobs make convenient handles and holders; for instance, at 
Santa Clara, turkey feathers in corn-cob holders are carried by the 
two women dancers in the pogon f cue. At Hano feathered darts, 
Icumeliy (Fm, wing; meliy, ? balls), are made of cobs, and cobs are used 
to make also a resilient stuffing for Vulumqwe z be^ ' corn kick-balls ' 
(Jc%lIut), corn; qwefie, kick along the ground). 

Miss C. D. True kindly gave the following information about birth 
customs at Santa Clara: 

At the birth of a child the mother's best friend [the tsahwijo, 1 cut old-woman'] 
severs the umbilical cord with a smoldering corncob. Four days after birth the 
'corn-name' is given. The mother's best friend comes to the house before dawn, 
bringing corn-meal and water in a vessel with two compartments, one for the meal 
and one for the water. The mother is led to the door with the infant, and the meal 
is sprinkled in the air as the sun rises. The father then takes four of his best ears 
of corn and sets them about the mother's bed. She returns, or should return to bed, 
for four days more. 

The following phrases given by a woman from San Ildefonso refer 
to the same custom: 'y,n jonutfamiui mcwVojowowajrije, the 'fourth 
day she took that woman out to ask for long life'; Cuy, it with 
reference to it; jonu, four; famu, day; M temporal; H, the; kw% 
woman in prime; '<?, she; jowowa, to throw meal asking for long life 
<jo, unexplained, vjovxx, to live; pije, to take out). Ojowowapije, 
'they two (the tsakwijo and another woman) take her (the mother) 
out to ask for long life (by throwing meal), ('<?, they two her). 



1 Douglass, Records of the Past, xi, p. 165. 



bobbins Harrington, "I ETHNOBOTAN Y OF THE TEWA INDIANS 97 

FREIRE-MARRECO J. 

At Hano, where the naming customs have approximated to those 
of the Hopi, the rite requires the use of yucca suds, corn-meal, and 
two ears of corn, one a tufted white ear called posete, the other a pink 
or a red ear. 

Trade in Corn 

As long as buffalo were obtainable on the plains, the Tewa carried 
on a considerable trade with the Comanche, bartering corn, corn- 
meal, and wheat bread for prepared buffalo hides. Sometimes the 
Tewa visited the Comanche country, sometimes the Comanche 
brought hides to Santa Clara, which thus became a depot for the trade 
in woolen goods and buffalo hides between the Hopi and the Co- 
manche. With the disappearance of the buffalo this intercourse 
ceased. 

Tallies 

It is said that at one time, probably between 1879 and 1891, the 
Santa Clara men used to elect the gobernador by ballot, using grains 
of corn or beans. Maize kernels or beans are used as counters in 
the game of Canute. 1 

Medicinal Uses of Corn 

At Santa Clara the following remedy is used for swollen glands, 
ssegobe, in the neck: An ear of corn, ¥o*ie, is laid on the warm hearth 
near the fire, and the patient is told to set his foot on it and rub it to 
and fro — n&YoJe > dntsa<ii, 'rub the ear of corn with your foot' (nd 
you 1 it!; Fode, ear of corn; '$77, foot; tsaJbi, to rub). In two or 
three days' time the swellings will subside. The treatment is suitable 
for a child of ten years or so, not for a baby. 

Blue corn-meal mixed with water is given at Santa Clara for piyhe, 
'heart-sickness,' 4 palpitations, pains near the heart or diaphragm 1 
(piy, heart; A<?, sickness, to be sick). 

At San Ildefonso corn-pollen, Tcqtu (Icq, corn-tassel; tu, kernel) was 
especially recommended for palpitation of the heart. 

Black corn with a slight streaking of red, Ic'ump'e'niy or (pip'e'niy, 
New Mexican Spanish mats Tcafetao), is good for a woman at her 
periods. Some women take corn-smut, ssepede, as a remedy for 
irregular menstruation. 

Pantomime of Corn-growing 

Some dancers — for example the clowns, fcosa, at San Ildefonso — use 
interesting ritual gestures which portray the growth of corn. The 
performer looks up at the sky, shading his eyes with one hand; this 
means, " I see clouds coming." He makes motions as if drawing the 



1 See Harrington, The Tewa Indian game of Canute, Amer. Anthr., xiv, p. 254, 1Q12. 



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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 55 



clouds toward him with both hands, palms upward. Then bending 
his arms at the elbows and turning his palms downward, he shoots 
them repeatedly forward: "the clouds are coming here to the fields." 
By a zigzag motion of hand and arm above his head he indicates 
lightning. Holding his hand horizontal, palm down, he lowers it by 
a succession of jerks: "rain falls"; then he makes horizontal motions 
of drawing and sweeping: "the water from the irrigating ditches 
runs all over the fields." Next he imitates a man hoeing, first on one 
side and then on the other. Then he shows the corn growing 
up ... so high . . . now so high . . . marking successive heights 
above the ground with his hand, as if showing a child's age; then the 
male inflorescence, by holding up his hand with fingers and thumb 
pointing upward in a circle. Lastly, the right forearm, with hand 
pointing upward, is shot up perpendicularly several times, while the 
left hand, held slightly above the level of the right elbow with palm 
turned toward the right arm, is moved upward and outward from it, 
to represent the growth of the female inflorescence at the side of the 
stalk. All this time the performer continues to dance, keeping on 
the same ground or moving over a few yards only. 

While the Icosa are dancing these motions, they mention corn, 
wheat, melons, watermelons, chiles, peaches, apples, and all sorts of 
edible plants. 

Coen Clans 

The Corn clan at San Juan and Santa Clara is called Jcyntowd, at 
Hano ~k' yluniowa. Hodge 1 gives as names of Corn clans at various 
pueblos: San Juan, Kun-tdoa; Santa Clara, Khu n -td6a; Hano, Kulo n - 
towa; Jemez, Kyunutsa-dsK; Pecos, JTyunu'+/ Sia and San Felipe, 
Ydka-hdno; Santa Ana, YakJ-Tidno; Cochiti, Ydtia-hdnuch; Zuni 
(Corn or Seed), Td'a-Jcwe. Fewkes 2 gives Kolon as the Hano name of 
the Hano Corn clan. Hodge 3 gives Ku n aii-td6a as a Sweet Corn clan 
at San lldef onso. 

The Hopi have a Corn clan, Kail nyamu, Kail winwu, one of the 
Patki group, at Walpi and Mishongnovi, and a Young Corn clan at 
Oraibi. 4 

The Corn clan at Hano presides over corn and all edible plants; the 
members think themselves bound to feed the people in time of scar- 
city, to entertain strangers, and to interpret for them. The chief of 
this clan makes the corn-meal "road" at ceremonies which concern 
the whole village. At present the clan owns and repairs the estufa in 
the plaza, munate'e, and have named it sd^lxmolo^Me, 6 corn-silk heap 
house' (sselse, corn-silk; molo-ii, heap; tde, estufa). 

| Amer. Anthr., ix, p. 349, 1S96. 

-Tusayan Migration Traditions, Nineteenth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pt. 2, 1900, p. 615. 
3 Op. cit. 

* Fewkes, op. cit.; also Mindeleff, Localization of Tusayan Clans, in same Report, p. 651. 



^fin^f^n GT ° N, l ETHNQBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 99 

The women of the Corn clan at Hano have the right to give personal 
names referring to corn and all kinds of vegetal food,' as — 
Fydun tsejiy, 'yellow corn.' M. and F. 
Jculum pPiy, 'red corn.' F. 
fcyluntsse, ' white corn.' F. 
Futyntssgjib, ' bluish- white corn.' F. 

Fulyrfe, 'little corn,' alluding to the forced corn-plants distributed 

at the Water Snake performance. M. 
jele, the old name for a dwarf corn which the old people had. 
pimni, ' dwarf corn.' F. 

Fulukwi, 'corn tied,'? alluding to ears of corn taken to the estufa 

at the Winter Solstice. M. 
Fulympup'tfa, 'corn at the bottom of the stack' (pu, base; pa?a, 

spread on the ground). M. 
Jculuifa 'dressed corn.' (Hopi, tipimi.) M. 
po'seFuluy, 'old-time corn,' alluding to the Fyluifa. M, and F. 
tsqyiosenele^ 'blue (or green) standing alone.' M. 
kalatsqy, 6 new leaf. 1 F. 
kalatsqywx, ' green leaf.' F. 
kalatiti, 'leaf quivering.' M. 
s%l%pilitsqy, 'new red corn-silk.' F„ 
MHnele, 'tassel alone.' M. 
kqtu, 'pollen.' F. 
kq tutsq ywse , 'green pollen.' F. 
ssep&te, 'corn-smut.' F. 
F%nsa, 'corn-meal put up.' M. 
tamali) a cooked food (<Span. tamale). M. 
taws(?%, 'dough of parched sweet corn.' F. 
mowanusege, 'bread of unripe corn.' F. 
'akonfsejiy, 'yellow field.' F. 
kotsala, 'planting divided, cut.' M. 
pa? a deko, 'early planting.' M. 
my,tfo, 'sack.' M. 
tfojemytfo, ' seed bag.' M. 

p*olontsqy, 'new road,' alluding to a ritual line of corn-meal. F, 

fsejimmy,, 'yellow pod.' M. 

sannia, 'watermelon' (<Span. sandm). M. 

sutsigi, 'mint' (Monarda menihdtf blia). M. 

jqmpdbl, 'peach flower.' F. 

Tu. 

? . Bean. New Mexican Spanish frijol. 

Beans (Span, frijoles, habas) were cultivated by the Rio Grande 
Pueblos at the time of the discovery. Castano de Sosa (1590) notes 
that they were of several colors, "el maiz hera de muchas colores e lo 
propio es el frisol," possibly alluding to distinct varieties. 



100 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



A number of beans (PJiaseolus vulgaris, variety not determinable) 
were found in 1910 in the pre-Spanish ruins at the Kito de los Frijoles, 
New Mexico, just outside the Tewa area of occupancy. 

The kind of beans which the Tewa used to have is distinguished 
from other kinds by being called tewatu, 'Tewa beans' {tewa, Tewa; 
tu, bean). 

Beans are the staple food of the Tewa, as of the poorer New Mexi- 
can Spaniards. 

At Santa Clara beans are cooked, mashed, and spread on the face 
to relieve neuralgia. Teivatu gsenta M J xnu^idd, 'grind beans and 
smear thyself {tewatu, Indian beans <tewa, Tewa, tu, bean; gs&y, you 
1 it for } T ourself ; la, to grind; hi, of, for, connecting the phrase which 
follows with the sentence; '%nu, to smear; temporal). 

Po (cf. pogoje, wild squash, Cuciirbita fostidissima). The Hano 
Tewa form is po with falling intonation, while the Rio Grande 
Tewa use rising-falling intonation. 

? . Squash, Pumpkin. New Mexican Spanish calabacin, 

calabaza. 

Pojo {po squash, pumpkin; jo augmentative). 

? . Pumpkin. New Mexican Spanish calabaza. 

Some persons prefer to say po so* jo, 'large squash' {so jo, largeness, 
large). 

Pumpkins were cultivated at all the Rio Grande pueblos at the time 
of the discovery and are still a fairly important crop. Considerable 
quantities of them are kept for winter use, to be boiled, or baked in 
the bread-oven, and eaten. 

Mr. F. W. Hodge 1 gives as Calabash clans at various pueblos: San 
Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Nambe, and Tesuque, Po-tdoa; 
Jemez, Weliatsa-dsh; Pecos, Wa?-ha?-hd? ; Acoma, Tdny'i-hdnoq 011 ; 
Sia and San Felipe, Tdnyl-hdno; Cochiti, Tanyi-hdnuch. 

At all the Tewa pueblos in New Mexico, as well as at Cochiti, at 
Santo Domingo, and probably at other pueblos, the people are divided 
into two groups, ritually and socially complementary to each other 
and sometimes politically opposed. One of these is Poiowd, 'Cala- 
bash people,' the other Kunseiowa, 'Turquoise people.' At Santa 
Clara the Potoiod are 'Winter people,' temuiHn iozca, and their re- 
ligious chief is the \>jike. At Hano this dual grouping is not trace- 
able. 

Por/w&e, 'small spiny squash' {po, squash, pumpkin; ywse, spiny, 

spine; '<?, diminutive). 
? . Hubbard Squash, Small Spiny Squash. 



lAmcr. Anthr., ix, p. 349, 1896. 



robbins, Harrington, 1 ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 101 

FREIRE-MARRECO J 

Pc? ywije, 'gourd rattle.' 1 

1 — — — . Grourd plant which bears gourds that are used as rattles 
(see fig. 7). 

Kale, 'spoon,' 'ladle,' made of gourd or other substance. 
Gourd plant which bears gourds that are used as spoons or ladles. 
Sections of gourds used as spoons are very common. 




Fig. 7.— Gourd rattles. 



Rattles for dancing are made of gourds, grown for the purpose. 2 
Half sections of gourds are used as ladles and dippers, lceu>e, especially 

*Two kinds of rattle are regularly made in the New Mexican pueblos: the po'oywije proper, a flat- 
sided gourd; and the 'atstibe po'oywije (first three syllables unetymologizable), made of rawhide 
stretched and sewed over a clay core which is afterward broken and removed. In both cases the 
rattle is transfixed by a wooden handle which passes through it from end to end and is kept in place 
by a transverse peg, and contains a quantity of very small stones. 

At Hano rattles of two kinds are made. One is a roundish gourd, fitted with a wooden handle 
which is pegged into the mouth of the gourd and does not transfix it. The other, called k'awot'o- 
po'oywije because it is made at the k'awoVo festival in February, is evidently derived from a rawhide 
type; it is a flat-sided gourd transfixed by a wooden handle and painted in imitation of sewing along 
the edges, where the seams of a rawhide rattle would be. 

2 Formerly the Yavapai bought gourd rattles from the Hopi. 

67961°— Bull. 55—16 8 



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[bull. 55 



for filling the water-jars and for drinking water from them, and for 
ladling broth, s%po, and gruel, 'tigg from the cooking-pots. To some 
extent they have been superseded by earthenware ladles, (Hano 
nqpokeie; nqpo, mud; Ic&ie, section of gourd) and commercial spoons. 
Some small earthenware vases are made in the form of gourds. Vari- 
ously shaped sections of gourd, Ic&ie (Hano Ic&ie or hai* ha$ %e<ie, 
liatt hatt representing the sound made in scraping wet paste; Ic&ie, 
section of gourd), are used by women to smooth and shape pottery in 
the making. At Hano a gourd is sometimes used as a resonator for 
the musical rasp. 

At Santa Clara a section of gourd, poFafte (po, gourd; ttcjfoe, to 
break, broken, fragment), painted green on the concave surface, 
decorated with four eagle feathers, and mounted on a short stick, is 
carried by each male dancer in the Zuni Basket Dance. It is said to 
represent the sun. 

SeTcxy. 

f Gossypium Hopi Lewton. Cotton. 1 

Cotton was formerly cultivated in small quantities at the Rio Grande 
pueblos; cotton thread was spun and cloth was woven. Some of the 
villages which did not raise cotton imported it from others as raw 
material for their own spinning and weaving. It was always an 
article of luxury on account of the smallness of the quantity which 
could be gathered in a single year and the tedious labor needed 
to prepare it for use. 

At the time of the discovery, Jaramillo reported that the people of 
the Rio Grande villages "raise and have a very little cotton, of which 
they make the cloaks which I have spoken of." The author of the 
Relation del Suceso says: "They raise cotton — I mean those who live 
near the river — the others do not;" he notes that at Cicuique (Pecos) 
and Yuraba (Taos) no cotton is raised. In the Tiguex pueblos "they 
gather cotton, but not much, and wear cloaks of it." 2 Coronado 
requisitioned three hundred or more pieces of cloth from the twelve 
villages of Tiguex, but the material is not specified; 3 probably the 
greater number were of rabbit fur and yucca fiber. In 1630, accord- 
ing to Benavides, the two hundred and fifty Spanish soldiers who 

iF. L. Lewton, The Cotton of the Hopi Indians: A New Species of Gossypium, says that a speci- 
men of cotton received from Mrs. Matilda Coxe Stevenson from Tuonyo Camp, Espariola, N. Mex., 
appears to he identical with the Hopi cotton, Gossypium Hopi Lewton. 

2Relaci6n Prostrerade Sivola, Fourteenth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., 1896. At present the Hano 
people card their cotton with wool-cards. 

3 Castarleda, ibid., 495. Nordenskiold found cotton yarn and cloth, hut not cotton-seed, in the cliff- 
dwellings of the Mesa Verde, in southwestern Colorado. Cotton-seed have been reported found in 
cliff-dwellings in southern Utah. (Nordenskiold, Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde, p. 94.) 

In an interment in a cave at the Rito de los Frijoles, the body was wrapped in a white cotton 
garment. (E. L. Hewett, Excavations at El Rito de los Frijoles in 1909.) 



bobbins, haerington, -I ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 103 

FREIRE-MARRECO J 

formed the garrison of Santa Fe were paid by a tribute raised from 
the neighboring villages, the Indians giving for each house a yard of 
cotton cloth (una vara de lienzo de algodon) and a bushel (fanega) of 
maize. 

In modern times the general tendency has been for the people of 
the Rio Grande villages to abandon the cultivation and manufacture 
of cotton and to buy woven and embroidered cotton goods from the 
Hopi, importing them either directly or through the Keresan pueblos. 
Nevertheless, white cotton blankets with red and black woolen borders 
were woven at Nambe within living memory. At Santa Clara the last 
man who wove large ceremonial blankets of cotton (seg.a) died less 
than thirty years ago; and a man who died in 1909 used to raise a small 
quantity of cotton, probably to provide cotton string for tying prayer- 
feathers and for other ceremonial uses. 

At Santa Clara selcsentdy, 'cotton seed' (sek'sey, cotton; tdw, seed), 
obtained from Jemez, is used as a remedy for baldness in children. 
The seeds are crushed and the t&ntu; kernels (tdy, seed; tu, kernel) 
are taken out and chewed, and applied to the child's head. 8eJc%n- 
tdnn4'%ny,, 'you I smear it with cotton seed' (nd, you I; 'deny,, to 
smear it). 

At Hano a small .quantity of cotton is raised by a few individuals. 
But in general the Hano people, like the Hopi, buy cotton batting from 
the traders for their spinning and weaving, and commercial cotton 
string is used for warps. Native cotton is prepared for the strings of 
prayer-feathers. Shinny-balls (hutqmele) are stuffed with cotton or 
with wool. 

Sa. 

Nicotiana attenuata. Tobacco. New Mexican Spanish punche. 
This is the general word meaning tobacco, but it applies especially 
to this species, which is sometimes distinguished from commercial 
tobacco as iowasa, 'Indian tobacco' (iowa, person, people, Indian; sa 
tobacco). Any kind of wild tobacco is called fto'sesa (po'se, ceremonial; 
sa, tobacco). 

Nicotiana attenuata was formerly cultivated by the New Mexican 
Tewa, but now, as a rule, it is bought from their Spanish vecinos. 
The dried leaves and other parts of the plant are smoked in pipes, 
saku {sa, tobacco; Tcu, stone), and in cigarettes of corn-husk. While 
commercial tobacco is increasingly used for pleasure, iowasa mast be 
smoked on all formal occasions, at religious ceremonies in the estufas 
or in private houses, at the meetings of councils and societies, and at 
the reception of visitors from distant pueblos. At Santa Clara the 
gobemador provides Iowasa and, if possible, pimp'unse^ (p. 72), to be 
smoked b}~ the prineipales and oficiales at his council meetings; and on 
January 1 it is usual for the outgoing gobemador to hand over what 



104 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



remains of his stock of towasa to his successor, for use at his first 
council, for which he may well be unprepared. 

The mode of smoking at Santa Clara, at the council, or in a private 
house, is as follows: The host (or presiding official) \&ys on the floor 
one or more bundles of clean smooth corn-husks, TcuyVowa, selected 
and saved in October, together with the bags, samy, (sa, tobacco; my,, 
bag), of sa and pimp\cn&%. Each person when ready to smoke takes a 
husk from the bundle, creases it with fingers and teeth, and cuts it to 
a convenient size with his thumb-nail, unless the host has already trim- 
med a number of husks with scissors to save trouble. Taking a pinch 
of sa and a leaf or two of pimpun%'% from the bags, the smoker rolls 
and bruises them with his right thumb and finger in the palm of his left 
hand. He dampens the slip of corn-husk in his mouth and draws it 
between his teeth to make it flexible, lays the pinch of mixed tobacco 
in the middle of the slip, rolls it into a cigarette about 2i inches long, 
licks the outer edge and pinches the cigarette together, folds up and 
pinches the ends, and looks round for a light. At this point one of 
the younger men of the household, or the fiscal if it be a meeting 
of the governor's council, ought to present the glowing end of the 
jfap^e, 'fire-stick' (p K a, fire; p*e, stick), a slender rod about 3 feet long 
which he has allowed to smolder in the fireplace; but it is now quite 
usual to provide commercial matches, p'ap'e or popo<iu (<Span. 
fosforo). The smoker lights the cigarette and smokes it, coughing 
and spitting freely; the small quantity of tobacco is soon consumed, 
and the rest of the cigarette is thrown on the floor. 1 Very rarely, on 
these occasions, a smoker may be observed to blow the first six puffs 
of smoke in the six ritual directions. At " general councils" attended 
by delegates from other pueblos the gobernador and fiscales of the 
entertaining pueblo pass round the tobacco and the fire-stick to the 
guests. 

At religious ceremonies tobacco is smoked in pipes, salctc. 

The native tobacco seems to be irritating to the throat and eyes, and 
few men at Santa Clara smoke it for pleasure. Three or four ciga- 
rettes at the most are smoked by each person at a meeting, and the 
smoker complains of the effects next day. Commercial tobacco is 
more freely used, but most men profess not to smoke by daylight, 
except after a journey. 

Until lately boys were forbidden to smoke "until they had killed 
deer, buffalo, jack- rabbit, and coyote," and if they transgressed they 
were thrown into the river. Unmarried men were not allowed to 
smoke in the presence of their elders. Quite recently the 'ojike (winter 
cacique) of San Juan called a council because three young boys had 
been found smoking commercial tobacco; the culprits were publicly 



'Iu a folk-tale heard at Santa Clara the procedure of an other-world council is thus described: 
"They were smoking and spitting, and the corn-husk was piled a foot deep on the floor." 



^f^ S ^fn A T r^ GT0N 'l ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 105 

FREIRE-MARREOO J 

reproved, and a dance of all the children in the pueblo was ordered in 
expiation of the scandal. 

The Tewa say that the people of the Temdoyvn, the down-river 
(Keres) pueblos (Tema, Keres; ^qyw% pueblo), smoke much more than 
they themselves do. It is rare for Tewa women to smoke. 

The tobacco, sa, smoked at Hano differs slightly in flavor from the 
New Mexican sa. 1 It is called towasa and po'sesa (see above), to dis- 
tinguish it from commercial tobacco. It is smoked in pipes, saku, 
some of native and others of commercial make, and in corn-husk ciga- 
rettes. Dresses and ornaments prepared for dances, prayer-feathers, 
feather " roads," and many other ritual objects are smoked over with 
towasa before they are used. During ceremonies and rehearsals the 
tynjowa (temporary or permanent religious officers) smoke, using a 
tobacco-bag, samu, and pipes provided by the tynjoy who is in charge 
at the time. All requests and proposals made to a tunjoy should be 
prefaced by giving him tobacco and " making him smoke." 

Tobacco is presented to the men in the estufa with the words, s^nnsem 
biyFe; 'dbip % iwemi, Hmo, 'ikwsgnio, 'men, set it down; yon will 
smoke, it will rain very much' (s^nnsey, men; ftiy, ye 3+ — it; 7c e, to 
set down; ^dbi, ye 3 — yourselves; p'iwe, smoke; mi, future postfix; 
Hmo, very much; 3d pers. sing, reflexive; kw%, rain; to, future 
postfix) . 

When men pass the pipe to each other on ritual cccasions, they ex- 
change kinship terms. Thus, a man fills and lights the pipe and hands 
it to another, saying, nabita^a, 'my father' (?m, I; ti, possessive; ta<ia, 
father); and he replies naWe, 'my child' {nq, I; M, possessive; '0, 
child). 

The Tobacco clan, Satowa, is one of the three leading clans at Hano- 
the other two being the Bear clan, Ketowa, and the Corn clan, ICulun, 
Iowa, The chiefs, tunjowa, of these clans are also chiefs of the whole 
village. In ceremonies which concern the village the saiowatunjoy 
brings tobacco, while the Bear clan and Corn clan chiefs bring medi- 
cine and corn-meal. When a party of Tcachina visit the tunjonte* 6 , 
'chiefs' estufa,' the saiowatunjoy smokes on them. 

The smoking of towasa is connected with the 1 thought ' or ' inten- 
tion ' (pindy, 'anfcjawo) of a tunjon. The late chief of the Hopi Corn 
clan at Moenkapi, who was also the village chief, 7cikm%Lywi, was a 
woman; she smoked much, hence, unlike other women, she was credited 
with, pinqy by the Hano men. 

The older men smoke towasa for pleasure or from motives of econ- 
omy, while the younger men smoke commercial tobacco in cigarettes 
to excess, both in the estufa and at home. A certain religious impor- 

1 Owing to the season only dried and broken specimens could be obtained. ' ' The Hopi gather two 
species of tobacco, Mcotianatrigonophylla Duval and N. attenuataTorr." They also fetch wild tobacco 
from the Little Colorado. (Hough, The Hopi and their Plant Environment, Amer. Anthr., x, 1897, 
p. 38.) 



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[bull. 55 



tance attaches even to the smoking of commercial tobacco, and for this 
reason the members of the neighboring Christian settlement refuse 
it— "we do not pray that way now." 

Authorized messengers sent from one Tewa pueblo to another are 
provided with tobacco, which they offer to the persons who receive 
them. The Tewa of Hano accept such gifts of tobacco only after the 
most careful scrutiny of the messenger's credentials and " intention"; 
he must first smoke his own tobacco, then submit to a strict examina- 
tion; and lastly, if his answers give satisfaction, his tobacco is 
accepted and smoked. To decline the tobacco of an envoy, after 
questioning him, implies doubt or rejection of his credentials, or entire 
disapproval of the object of his visit; to take his tobacco with the left 
hand shows an intention to refuse his request or proposal. On the 
last occasion, it is said, when tobacco was sent from the New Mexican 
Tewa to Hano it was transmitted by way of Zuni, and an epidemic of 
smallpox is said to have followed. Indian tobacco introduced by a 
person who is not an authorized messenger from another pueblo is 
viewed with the gravest suspicion. At Santa Clara, on the contrary, 
there is no such feeling, and both officials and private persons accept 
" Hopi" tobacco with pleasure. 

Medicinal Uses op Tobacco 

At San Ildef onso tobacco leaves are placed on, or in, a tooth to cure 
toothache. At Santa Clara tobacco is taken as snuff to cure a discharge 
from the nose. To cure a cough, tobacco, oil, and soot are placed in 
the hollows of the patient's neck, and a cross of tobacco is made on the 
chest. Tobacco mixed with hojaje (Gutierrezia longifolia) and ^anta- 
misa (? Artemisia species) is given as snuff to women in labor. 

Tobacco Clans 

Hodge 1 gives as Tobacco clans at various pueblos : Nambe, Sd-tdoa; 
Hano, Sd-towa; Sia, Ildmi-hano / San Felipe, Ildami-lidno ; Zuni, 
A'na-Jcwe. 

The Tobacco clan, Satowa, of Hano (see above), is classed with the 
Hopi Tobacco and Rabbit clans, and therefore disposes of such per- 
sonal names as — . 

sa tseji, fellow tobacco.' F. 

sajo, 'large tobacco.' M. 

sdijfa, 'tobacco rolled up.' M. 

natu, Navaho name for tobacco. M. 

'uhibaszy, Havasupai name for tobacco +szy, 'man.' M.- 
tynjotfa^jy,, ' chief girl.' F. 
se/mo, ' old man.' M. 
pasenno, 'rough old man.' M. 



1 Amer. Anthr., ix, p. 352, 18%. 



ROBBINS, HARRINGTON 
PREIRE-MARRECO 



] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 107 



pdbinele, 4 flower alone.' M. 
p'otsqy, 'new hair.' F. 

fluff.' F. 
>ohuts%, 'white fluff.' F. 
'2}'^, 'smoke.' F 
satele, 'fond of tobacco.' M. 
pukwijo, ' rabbit old lady.' F. 
kwdy, ' jackrabbit.' F. 
^oj&pqr), 'Mack ears. 5 M. 
tulu, 'mixed-colored.' F. 
See also sapiHy (p. 47), tfwsa (0. 74), 'ojop*e (p. 54), and pimp\inse^ 
(p. 72). 

INTRODUCED FOOD-PLANTS 

Introduced Food-plants Cultivated by the Tew a 1 

Tata (perhaps a corruption of tdnta, seed grass <tdy, seed; ta, 
grass). 

Wheat. New Mexican Spanish trigo. 
Wheat seed is called tdtdtdy, 'wheat seed' (tdtdy, wheat; tdy, seed). 
Cushing gives as the Zuni name for "wheat food" Jchia'lt&ive. 2 
When first introduced into the Tewa country, wheat was no doubt 
classed in Indian speech as a particularly well-seeded grass. Onate's 
colonists raised it under irrigation at San Gabriel before the year 
1601. In the revolt of August, 1680, against Spanish government 
and civilization the Tewa are said to have burned their crops of wheat, 
along with swine, poultry, and church furniture. At the present 
day wheat is highly valued, and is ritually mentioned along with the 
aboriginal foodstuffs; it is even introduced into stories which purport 
to describe pre-Spanish events, the Indians not being sensitive to 
anachronisms of this kind. The proportion of wheat to corn under 
cultivation is now very large, as appears by the following table: 

Estimated grain crops of the Pueblos under the Santa Fe superintendence/ 3 

Wheat Maize 

1901 .31,038 bushels 30,710 bushels 

1903 20, 194 bushels 21 , 854 bushels 

1904 18,521 bushels 16, 650 bushels 

1 From letters sent from San Gabriel to Mexico shortly before 1601, Torquemada {Monorchia Indiana, 
lib. v, cap. xxix) names several imported vegetables successfully raised under irrigation from the 
Chama River: "cabbages, onions, lettuces, radishes, and other small garden-stuff . . . many good 
melons and sandias . . . Spanish wheat, maize, and Mexican chile all do well." Benavides 
(Memorial) , describing New Mexico in general, but possibly drawing his information from the Santa 
Fe district— he was resident at Santa Clara in 1629— gives the following list of imported and native 
vegetables: "maize, wheat, beans (frijoles), lentils, chick-peas, beans (habas), peas, squashes, 
watermelons (sandias), melons, cucumbers; all kinds of garden-stuff; cabbages, lettuces, carrots, 
carpos, garlic, onions, tunas, pitahayas, excellent plums, apricots, peaches, nuts, acorns, mulberries, 
and manyothers." 

2F. H. Cushing, Zufii Breadstuff, The Millstone, ix, 12, Dec, 1884, p. 223. 

3 Reports of the U. S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1901, p. 716, 1902; 1903, p. 536; 1904, p. 622, 1905. 
The last-named year was a very dry season. 



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[BULL. 55 



The Rio Grande Tewa raise wheat by means of irrigation, prepar- 
ing the ground by plowing. When American iron plows first began 
to supersede wooden plows of Spanish pattern, there were only one 
or two such implements in the pueblo of Santa Clara; these were 
communal property, having been given by the Indian agent, and 
were used by all the men in turn. (Similarly, some iron tools — 
scythes and hoes — at San Juan Pueblo are kept in the governor's 
storehouse as communal property.) The time for sowing wheat 
was formerly fixed and proclaimed by the oficiales, but after a series 
of disputes which began about 70 years ago, liberty of private 
action in this respect was established, at least in the pueblo of Santa 
Clara. As might be expected, the sowing of this Spanish food plant 
is accompanied by Christian rites. A small cross, p'eywiy (pe, 
stick; ywiy, to stand upright), made of two twigs, with sprigs of 
pinon and juniper cedar tied to it with strips of yucca, is carried 
to the church at Santa Cruz to be blessed by the priest. After 
wheat sowing, this cross is stuck in the field to benefit the crop, much 
as the Tewa of Hano set up prayer-sticks and feathers in their maize 
fields. When the wheat has been harvested the cross is brought 
home and put away in the house. If a young boy should die, this 
cross would be laid on his breast. 

The Tewa threshing floors, like those of the New Mexican Span- 
iards, are circular areas of level ground about 30 feet across, plas- 
tered with adobe, situated on the outskirts Of the villages, generally 
on high ground near a steep declivity, where a breeze will assist 
the work of winnowing. Each 'aia (< Spanish era) may belong 
to five or six men, relatives or connections by marriage, who have 
made it by their joint labor. In September the wheat is piled on the 
a temporary fence of stakes and ropes (formerly of rawhide 
straps) is set up, and a number of horses are driven round and round 
in the inclosure until all the grain has been trodden out. Unbroken 
horses and mares with their foals are driven in from the hills for this 
work. The men spread the wheat with pitchforks for the horses to 
trample, and from time to time fork the straw out of the 'e>&a. When 
the threshing is done, the men throw the trash to the wind so it may 
blow away, and the women and children sweep the grain into baskets 
and winnow it by tossing against the wind, or sift it through trays of 
roughly perforated tin; after this they carry it home in sacks and 
store it in built-up bins of wood or of plastered adobe. An Ameri- 
can threshing machine was used in 1912 for the first time at the 
pueblo of Santa Clara. 

From this point the care of the wheat belongs to the women, who 
sort and pick it clean by hand and wash it in the creek or the acequia. 
It is ground in water mills, some of which belong to "Mexicans" 



ROBBIXS, HARRINGTON 
FREIRE-MARRECO 



N '] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 109 



and a few to Indians, and the American steam mill at Espanola is 
also patronized. 

The women make of their own wheat excellent though rather dense 
bread, pay (< Spanish^??), raised with leaven, kneaded in the earth- 
enware bread pan (ssembe), and baked in the dome-shaped adobe oven, 
pqnte {pay, raised bread; te, house). This bread keeps fresh and good 
for a week or more), but, as they are anxious to keep it moist, they 
usually wrap it in a cloth or put it into a covered pot when it is hot 
from the oven, treatment which is apt to sour it. For dances, wed- 
dings, and other festivities the loaves of bread are ornamented with 
raised patterns, called pofil, 'flowers.' For the use of travelers bread 
is baked in a hot oven until it is thoroughly dry and crisp. Within 
living memory this hard-baked bread was an article of trade with the 
Comanche, who visited Santa Clara to barter fine whitened and painted 
buffalo hides for bread and corn-meal ; the Santa Clara men also made 
occasional journeys to trade in the Comanche country, where a sack 
of hard- baked bread would buy a good pony. 

Tortillas, called pdba (? < Spanish pan), round flat cakes of wheat 
flour made with lard and, usually, baking powder, form the ordinary 
bread of the New Mexican Tewa household. They are baked on a 
flat stone, buwdlcu (buwa, corn-bread; leu, stone), propped on an iron 
trivet, or sometimes on an iron plate. These wheat tortillas have 
almost supplanted the corn-meal tortillas, buwaleada, and commer- 
cial flour is fast superseding home-grown wheat in their making. 
"Children who have tasted white tortillas cry for them ever after, as 
a man longs for whisky." 

Sweet cakes, made for weddings, are called pcihcCe (ptiba, bread; 'e, 
diminutive). 

BuwaFo (Spanish panocha) is here made entirely of wheat. 
Moistened wheat is kept covered until it sprouts; the grains, after 
being washed, are dried thoroughly on a cloth spread in the sunshine; 
they are then ground on a metate. The meal is put into a jar (s%mbe) 
with water and allowed to stand for a da} T , until it bubbles like yeast. 
In the evening the mixture, after being stirred ( ? with the addition of 
unfermented flour), is put into the oven and baked all night. Buwaleo 
is eaten at sunrise on Easter Day and St. Anthony's Day June (13). 1 

Kqpowsenu {lea, grease; po, water; w%nu, drip) are very thin disks 
of dough, now always made of commercial flour and lard, fried in deep 
fat so that they puff up crispty. They are made for unexpected 
guests, and to give to the Jeosa (clowns) when they come begging from 
house to house. 

Tata 'wheat gruel' (MM, wheat; V/g^, gruel), is used as a 

remedy for stomach disorders and diarrhea. 



1 Information kindly supplied by Mr. Thomas S. Dozier. 



110 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



At Hano wheat is not raised, but small quantities of the grain are 
obtained, probably from Moenkapi. To prepare wheat, the women 
wash it, bruise it with the grinding stones to loosen the "skin," dry it 
in the sun, and shake it well until the " skin ,? comes off; it is then boiled 
with meat. Commercial wheat flour is much used for raised bread, 
biscuit, kapowsenu, etc. 

Tata p'o'iy, 'hairy wheat' (tdta, wheat; p'o, hairy, hair). 
Barley. New Mexican Span, cebada. 

'Abena, (<Span. avena). 

Oats. Oats and barley are threshed in the same manner as wheat. 
New Mexican Spanish avena. 

Kafta (<Span. carta). 

Cane, Sugar Cane. New Mexican Spanish eana. 
Kaha 4ulse ( < Span, cana dtdce). 

Sweet Cane, Sugar Cane. New Mexican Spanish coMa dulce. 
The New Mexican Tewa first became acquainted with sugar in the 
form of cane sirup, introduced by the Spaniards, and therefore call 
it ^apo, a name which they originally applied to honey. Honey is 
now designated punu'apo, 1 fly-sweetness water/ or r/wodombe'dpo, 
'bee-sweetness water, (p'uny,, fly, insect; V|po, sirup, sugar <'g, sweet- 
ness, sweet, po, water; ywodombe, bee). The white powdered sugar 
of American commerce is called 'g'i' ts%?i,' 'sweet white' ('$, sweet- 
ness, sweet; 83s,' whiteness, white). The Navaho call it "sweet salt" 
or "nice salt." 

Sirup, 'dpo ('«, sweetness; po, water) was made at Santa Clara 
within living memory. The cane stalks were squeezed into a large 
wooden press, the juice running into a wooden trough (?) which had 
formerly served as a canoa on the Rio Grande. As it was necessary 
to boil the juice immediately after pressing, a large party of men, 
women, and children would assemble to do the work, keeping up the 
fires all night, with singing, drumming, and dancing. 

Tu. 

Bean. New Mexican Spanish frijol. 
See (page 99). 

Tu he'eniy, 'large bean' (tu, bean; hJey, large). 
Lima bean. New Mexican Spanish lima. 

Tutsxbe, 'white fruit bean' (tu, bean; tsse, white; be, round thing, 

roundish fruit). 
Pea. New Mexican Spanish arvejon. 

Si (Allium cernuum, wild onion). 
Onion. New Mexican Spanish cebolla. 
The name of the wild plant has been transferred to the introduced 
* vegetable. 

Onions, fried with meat or beans, or alone, are a favorite food. 



robbins, Harrington, "1 ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 111 

FRKIRE-MARRECO .| 

To revive a person from a fainting fit, the Tewa put a piece of 
"strong" onion to his nostrils. 

Tsidl (<Span. chile). Hano Tewa, tsini. 
Pepper. New Mexican Spanish chile, pimiento. 
In Tewa, as in English, both kinds of 'pepper' (Span, chile and 
pimiento; Ger. Paprika and Pfeffer) are called by a single name. 

The Navaho " curse word" tsindi, Q wizard,' 'witch,' 'devil,' is 
known to some of the Tewa and sounds very similar to their tsidl, 
'pepper.' 

The chile pepper of the varieties which bear fruits that are eaten 
green is called in Tewa tsidl tsqywseHjr), 'green chile' (tsi^l, pep- 
per; tsqyw%, blue, green), and in New Mexican Spanish chile verde 
or chile de California. The Tewa of Hano call commercial pepper 
tsini tsqyw&iy, 'blue chile,' because it is gray or bluish. 

Chiles are strung on yucca slips and dried for winter use, ground to 
powder on a metate, and cooked with meat or eaten as sauce with 
tortillas. 

A string of chiles is called tsidl Icato (tsidl, chile; ¥qto, string. 
Gatschet has commented on the excessive use of chile pepper by the 
Pueblo Indians. 1 

Benyndl, Hano Tewa melone (< Span, melon). 
Muskmelon. New Mexican Spanish melon. 

Fresh melons are much enjoyed and are given as presents. 

Women prepare dried muskmelons, benyndl fa, for winter use 
by shaving off the rind with a sharp knife, then cutting off one end 
of the melon and scraping out the seeds and liquid pulp. A cotton- 
wood sapling has been prepared by cutting off the branches and twigs, 
leaving only short stumps. This tree is set up in the field, or on the 
roof of the house, or on a platform in the plaza, and the emptied melons 
are hung on the stumps to dry. Next day, if dry enough, each melon 
is torn by hand, spirally, into long strips, and the strips are hung on 
a branch or line. When they are dry enough, a number of strips are 
laid together, with their ends doubled up, and other strips are wound 
round them, making a stout bundle 10 or 12 inches long, which is 
compared to the queue of Pueblo Indian hairdressing. Pairs of 
such bundles, coupled with a rag or string, are hung up in the store- 
room. In winter the women cut the dried melon fine, stew it and 
make it into pies; it has a sweet, fermented taste. 

Sandia. Hano Tewa, sannia (<Span. sandia). 
T'uwlHy, 'spotted' (fy,, spotted). 
Watermelon. 2 New Mexican Spanish sandia. 

1 A. S. Gatschet, Zwolf Sprachen mis dem Siidwesten Nordamerikas, Weimar, 1876, p. 44. 

2 At Taos watermelons are called hwqgpana, 'Mexican squash, or pumpkin' (kwig, 'Mexican'; pa, 
'squash, pumpkin'=Tewa po). This name shows clearly that the watermelon was introduced by the 
Mexicans. 



112 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 55 



T'uwVir/ is used especially when talking Tewa in the presence of 
Mexicans, as it is feared that they will understand sqndia. 

At Santa Clara watermelons are mentioned in ritual formulas as one 
of the principal crops. They are perhaps the favorite luxury of the 
people — given as presents, and produced on festive occasions and for 
honored guests, especially in winter. Watermelons and apples (per- 
haps as being typically Spanish fruits) are the appropriate refresh- 
ment when neighbors are invited for Christian prayers. At the 
Christian rites of the Day of the Dead (November 2), apples, and 
watermelons cut into ornamental patterns, form part of the offering in 
the churchyard. 

Watermelons are gathered in September, just before corn harvest 
begins. They are preserved until late in the winter by hanging them 
from the rafters in a network of split yucca. 

Introduced Food-Plants not Generally Cultivated by the 

Tewa 

PufiiHy, 'red root' (pu, base, root; pi A red). 
Beet. New Mexican Spanish remolacha, betavel. 
A number of Tewa boys go to work in the beet fields in Colorado. 
Pu tsx'iy, 'white root' (pit, base, root; ts%, white). 
Sugar beet. New Mexican Spanish betavel de azucar. 
Turnip. New Mexican Spanish nabo. 

Pu tsejViy, 'yellow root' (pu, root; tse, yellow). 
Carrot. New Mexican Spanish zanahoria. 

Pu segVniy, 'slender root' (pu, root; segiy, slender, narrow). 
Parsley. New Mexican Spanish perejil. 

Pe'nsefil tsse'ly, 'white weed' (p'e'nseVi, weed; tsx, white). 
Parsnip. New Mexican Spanish chirima, zanahoria blanca. 

BeJAL ( < Span, berro). 

Water-cress. New Mexican Spanish berro. 
Kole (<Span. col). 

Cabbage. New Mexican Spanish col. 
KoleploJb (<Span. coliflor). 

Cauliflower. New Mexican Spanish coliflor, col deflor (de dialec- 

tically pronouced e). 
Sel&fd (< Eng. celery or New Mexican Span, celeri). 
"*Apiu ( < Span. apio). 
Celery. New Mexican Spanish apio. 

Ifwape, 'egg fruit' (ywa, egg; pe, fruit; imitating English egg- 
plant?). 

Eggplant. New Mexican Spanish berengena. 



ROBBINS, HARRINGTON 
FREIRE-MARRECO 



N '] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 113 



Let f ugh (<Span. lechuga). 

Lettuce. New Mexican Spanish lechuga. 

Motasa (<Span. mostaza). 

Mustard. New Mexican Spanish mostaza. 

Ben^nd/b 'little muskmelon ' {benund\, niusknielon <Span» 

melon) 'e, diminutive). 
Cucumber. New Mexican Spanish pepino. 

S%gobe(s%go unexplained; be, roundish fruit), originally applied 
to a wild bulbous plant as yet unidentified. 

Papa (<Span. papa), and 

Nqmjiu, 'earth swelling' (n4y, earth; p'u, swelling). 
Potato. New Mexican Spanish papa. 

Patelp^nqfih, 'pie weed'. (<Span. pastel, pie; p^e'w^bl, weed). 
Rhubarb. New Mexican Spanish planta de pastel, ruibarbo. 

Pu ss^iy, 'root hot to the taste like pepper' (pu, root; 

peppery to the taste). 
Radish. New Mexican Spanish rdbano. 

P*dns$>\ tsqywseHij, 'green weed' (p K dnqfo\ weed; tsdyivse, blue, 
green). 

Spinach. New Mexican Spanish espinaca. 

Tomate (<New Mexican Spanish tomate). 

Tsig.o'ot*e, originally Physalis neomexicana, q. v., page 59. 

Tomato. New Mexican Spanish tomate. 

Aspa^iagu (< Span, esparrago). 

Asparagus. New Mexican Spanish esparrago. 

'Qyqu (< Span. Kongo). 

Mushroom. New Mexican Spanish Kongo. 

Introduced Forage Plant 

' s Mpalp K a(< Span, alfalfa). 

Alfalfa. New Mexican Spanish alfalfa. 

Introduced Fruits 1 

Any kind of introduced fruit is called be, which probably has the 
original meaning ' round thing,' hence 'ball,' ' roundish fruit,' 'berry,' 
and is now in its uncompounded form especially applied to the apple, 
which is, next to the peach, the most common and the most important 
of the fruits introduced by the Spaniards into the Tewa country. 



i See footnote, p. 107. 



114 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



tBULL. 55 



P'epe (pe, stick, plant; pe, seed, fruit, crop) is used especially of 
small garden fruits and the berries of wild plants. 

Dried fruit is designated regularly by adding the adjective or the 
noun to, 'dry,' 'dryness.' Thus: be p % c?i H ta > i H , 'dried peaches,' veg. 
3+ plu. (be, roundish fruit, apple; p*o, hairy, hair; la, dry, dryness); 
or be j/oH H ta, literally 'peaches dryness,' veg. 3+ plu. (be, roundish 
fruit, apple; p K o, hairy, hair; ta, dry, dryness). 

If the dried strips of melons, squashes, pumpkins, etc., are twisted 
into a roll, the roll is called, if, for instance, of muskmelon, ben^n- 
dlta'obu, 'roll of dried muskmelon' (beny,ndl, muskmelon; ta, dry, 
dryness; ^obu, twisted roll of anything). If the dried muskmelon is 
not twisted into a roll, one would say simply, benundl taH H , ' dried 
muskmelons,' veg. 3+ plu. (benundl, muskmelon; ta, dry, dryness). 

Jam or sauce made of any kind of fruit is called s%, a word which 
is also applied to stewed meat. Thus: bes%, 'fruit sauce,' 'apple 
sauce' (be, roundish fruit, apple; s%, sauce, stew). Jelly is called t f ele 
(<Eng. jelly) or Jialea <Span. jalea. 

All names of introduced fruits are used of both the trees and the 
fruits without distinction. In this respect Tewa differs from Spanish. 
The Spanish names of fruits, not of fruit trees, are given below. 

Introduced Fruits Commonly Cultivated by the Tewa 1 

Be, 'roundish fruit.' In Hano Tewa apple is never called be. 

Mansana (< Span, manzana). 

Apple. New Mexican Spanish manzana. 

Apples are preserved for winter use by cutting them in rings and 
threading them on strips of yucca to dry. The Jcosa (clowns) some- 
times wear these and other dried foods — chiles, sweet-corn ears — as 
necklaces. Apples and cakes are thrown into the air and trampled 
into the ground at the conclusion of some autumn dances. Choice 
apples are hung up by strings tied to the stalks and kept to be offered 
in the churchyard on November 2. Apples are considered an appro- 
priate present from host to guest or from guest to hostess. 

Many of the Tewa have small apple orchards, mostly of a small, 
thin-skinned yellow apple. In October and November the women 
buy apples from "Mexican" peddlers, paying for them in corn on the 
cob, a basket of corn for a basket of apples. Some of the Santa Clara 

i The importance which these introduced fruits have gained in the Tewa economy is shown by the 
fact that one informant at Santa Clara substituted them for indigenous trees in a scheme of cardinal 
points, thus: "At the beginning there were no mountains; the earth was not yet hard; there were 
no trees, except only in the north an apple (manzana $e); and in the west apricots (albaricoque, 
sgqwamfye (?)); and in the south \e Vsejiy (?) and behind them plums (ciruelas, fity^), for which reason 
they are red; and in the east peaches (duraznos, \>e pVj'£)(?) . . . When the waters subsided, 
these trees dropped their fruits into the mud as seed for the world." 



ROBBIES, HARRINGTON 
FREIRE-MARRECO 



'] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 115 



men used to take one or two donkey-loads of apples and trade them to 
the Apache. 

Sqyqwqmbe, 'St. John apple' (say <Span. San, Saint; qwqy 
<Span. Juan, John; be, roundish fruit, apple). The fruit is 
so called because it ripens by St. J ohn's Day. 

Said to mean a kind of apple which ripens early. 

' TTba ( < Span. uva). 
Grape. New Mexican Spanish uva. 
Raisin is called ^ubataHy, 'dry grape' i^uba, grape; la, dry). New 
Mexican Spanish pasa. 

Grapes are cultivated at San lldef onso. 

Torquemada's informant 1 writes of a wild grape in New Mexico, 
probably in the Tewa country: "y con tener mucha Uba, no se apro- 
vechan de ella para bebida, sino para comer de ella, y hacer Pan, que 
comen." Possibly he had seen 'abebuwa, 'choke-cherry bread,' or 
something else of that kind. 

Introduced Fruits not Generally Cultivated by the Tewa 

Be 'ojoheHy, 6 sour apple' (be, roundish fruit, apple; 'ojohe, sour). 
Quince. New Mexican Spanish membrilla. 

Se^esa ( < Span, cereza). 

Cherry. New Mexican Spanish cereza. 

■ 'Obukwqy. (? Name of some wild plant.) 
Currant. New Mexican Spanish grosella. 

JVa<fayha (<Span. naranja). 

Orange. New Mexican Spanish naranja. 

Limqy (<Span. limon). 

Lemon. New Mexican Spanish limon. 

Pe<ia, or peAabe (£>#z<2< Span, pera; be, roundish fruit, apple). 
Pear. New Mexican Spanish pera. 

P'ape, 'yucca fruit' (p'a, Yucca baccata; pe, fruit). 
Date. New Mexican Spanish datil. (See page 50.) 

'Igu (<Span. Mgo). 

Fig. New Mexican Spanish higo. 

Banana ( < Span, banana): 

Banana. New Mexican Spanish ba>nana. 

'Asetuna ( < Span, aceituna). 

' Oliba (<Span. oliva). 

Olive. New Mexican Spanish aceituna, oliva. 



1 Monarchic/, Indiana, lib. v, cap. xxxx, p. 680. 



116 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL, 55 



Pupape, 'cracked buttocks fruit' (pu, bottom, buttocks, anus; 

pa, cracked, chapped; pe, fruit). 
Strawberry. 
Raspberry. 
Loganberry. 
Gooseberry. 
Blackberry. 

P'e'niy, 'black,' is often added to pupape when it means 'black- 
beriy.' 

Mo<ia ( < Span. mora). 

Mulberry, blackberry. New Mexican Spanish mora. 

Bep'oHy, 'hairy fruit' (be, roundish fruit, apple; jjo, hairy, hair). 

Hano Tewa, jqy (literally 'willow,' see p. 48). 
Peach. New Mexican Spanish durazno. 
Many of the Tewa own peach trees. On the death of the man who 
planted the orchard, the trees are divided among his children. 

For winter use, peaches are split, stoned, and dried in the sun, 
either on planks in the orchard or on the roof-top. The dried fruit is 
tied in a cloth and hung up. When required, the peaches are washed 
and stewed; they are also eaten dry as a dainty. 

Be pPiy, 'red fruit' (be, roundish fruit, apple; pi, red). Per- 
haps also called be fsejiHy, 'yellow fruit,' at Santa Clara. 
Apricot. New Mexican Spanish albaricoque. 
Apricots are eaten raw and are also dried for winter use. 

Pibe (pi, red j redness; be, roundish fruit, apple). 
Plum, Prune, any color. New Mexican Spanish ciruela. 
A wild plum, or sloe, is dried for winter use. 

NUTS 

Pinon nuts and all other kinds of nuts are called to. The one 
exception is the coconut; see below. 

The kernels of nuts are called iotu, 'nut kernel' (to, pinon, nut; 
#w,~kernel). 

Indigenous Nuts 

To, 'pinon nut,' 'nut.' 

Toto, 'pinon nut' (to, pinon tree; to, pinon nut, nut). 
Pinon nut. New Mexican Spanish pinon. (See page 41.) 
Iuf-'?iio, ' buffalo nut ' (ko^y, buffalo; to, nut). 
To, 'nut.' 

Walnut. New Mexican Spanish nogal. 



ROBBINS, HARRINGTON 
PREIRE-MARRECO 



] ETHNOBOTANY OF THE TEW A INDIANS 117 



Wild walnuts used to be gathered by the Tewa when they hunted 
buffalo in the Arkansas River valley. Walnuts are still called hq^nto, 
but more frequently merely to. 

Imported Nuts 

To, 'nut. 1 

^ Almendra (<Span. almendra). 
Almond. New Mexican Spanish almendra. 
Almonds are usually called to, 'nuts.' 

KoJcb (<Span. coco). 

Coconut. New Mexican Spanish coco. 

To, 'nut/ 

Me^ihanuto, 'American nut' {ineMhanu, American < Span. Ameri- 
cano; to, pinon nut, nut). 
Kakawate (<Span. cacahuate). 
Peanut. New Mexican Spanish cacahuate. 
Peanuts are usually called simply to, 'nuts. ; Sometimes they are 
called medikanuto, 'American huts' (me^ikanu, American < Span. 
Americano; to, pinon nut, nut). The Jemez regularly call peanuts 
heliganuidf , 'American pinon nuts' (heliganii, American < Span. 
Americano; idf, pinon nut, nut). The Franciscan Fathers report that 
the Navaho call peanuts "American piilon nuts." 1 

In 1911 a man at Santa Clara raised peanuts, to the surprise of his 
neighbors. 

FOREIGN PLANTS KNOWN ONLY AS COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS 

Kap'e (<Span. cafe). 

Pop'ey, 'black water' (fio, water; p K er/, black, blackness). 

Coffee. New Mexican Spanish cafe. 
Coffee is drunk with every meal by all wno can afford it; tea is sel- 
dom used except in sickness; but at Hano tea is drunk almost as 
much as coffee. 

7^(<Span. te). 

Tea. New Mexican Spanish te. 
'£7^(<Span. Jiide). 

T&i H , 'stretchy stuff' (t%, stretchy, to stretch). 

Rubber. New Mexican Spanish hide. 
- Rubber tree would be called 'ule, 'ulep'e, ' rubber plant ' (W<?, rubber, 
<Span. hule', p'e, stick, plant), or t% J i H ye, 'stretchy stuff plant 
(t&i^, stretchy stuff; pe, stick, plant). 

i The Franciscan Fathers, An Ethnologic Dictionary of the Navaho Language, St. Michaels, Arizona, 
1910, p. 193. 

67961°— Bull. 55—16 9 



118 BUREAU' OF AMERICAN" ETHNOLOGY [bull. 55 

Iii the winter of 1910 rubber catapults were in use among the boys 
of Santa Clara, but in 1912 bows and arrows had replaced them. 

For commercial sugar see page 110. 

Commercial cotton goods, such as calico or sheeting, are not classed 
as seTixrj^ 'cotton,' but as is%?i H , 'white,' or \i ts&ir), 'white clothing' 
f<z, clothing). 

The vegetal origin of many American drugs is not generally 
recognized. 



L 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



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California. Univ. of Chicago, Dept. Anthropology, Chicago, 1900. 

Benavides, Aloxso de. Memorial. Madrid, 1630. 

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Chamberlin, Ralph V. Ethno-botany of the Gosiute Indians. Mems. Amer. Anthr. 
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Some plant names of the Ute Indians. Amer. Anthr., n. s., xi, no. 1, pp. 27-40, 

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Douglass, W. B. A world-quarter shrine of the Tewa Indians. Records of the Past, 

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119 



120 



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[bull. 55 



Hough, Walter. The Hopi in relation to their plant environment. Ibid., x, 

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Nordenskiold, G. Cliff dwellers of the Mesa Verde. Translated by D. Lloyd 

Morgan. Stockholm and Chicago, 1893. 
Powers, Stephen. Aboriginal botany. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., v, pp. 372-379, 

1873-75. 

Relacion del Suceso. Trans, in Winship, The Coronado Expedition. Fourteenth 

Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pt. 1, pp. 572-579, 1896. 
Relacion Postrera de Sivola. Ibid. pp. 566-571. 

Russell, Frank. The Pima Indians. Tvjenty-sixth Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 
17-389, 1908. 

Sparkman, Phild? Stedman. The culture of the Luisefio Indians. Univ. Cal. 

Pubs., Amer. Arch, and Elh., vm, pp. 187-234, 1908. 
Standley, Paul C. See Wooton, E. O., and Standley. 

Stevenson, Matilda Coxe. The Zufii Indians. Tiventy-third Rep. Bur. Amtr. 
Ethn., 1904. 

Ethnobotany of the Tewa Indians. Thirtieth Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 

35-102, 1915. 

Thomas, Cyrus. Mound explorations. Twelfth Rep. Bur. Ethn., 1894. 
Torquemada, Juan de. De los veinte f un lfbros rituales f monarchia Indiana. 

Tomos i-ih, Madrid, 1723. 
Voth, H. R. Traditions of the Hopi. Field Columb. Mus. Pubs., Anthr. ser., vm, 

1905. 

Winship, George Parker. The Coronado Expedition. Fourteenth Rep. Bur. 

Amer. Ethn., pt. 1, pp. 329-613, 1896. 
Wooton, E. O., and Standley, Paul C. Flora of New Mexico. Contributions 

from the U. S. National Herbarium, xix, Washington, 1915. 



INDEX OF BOTANICAL NAMES 



Page. 

Abies concolor 38 

Acanthochitonwrightii 76 

Achillea lanulosa 53 

Acorns 107 

Alder 10,38 

Alfalfa 11,113 

Alton ia linearis 53 

Allium cernuum 110 

recurvation 53 

Almond 11,117 

A Inus tenuifolia 3S 

Alopecurus aristulatus 64 

Amaranth 10,53 

AmaranthusblUoidcs 53 

palmeri Watson 89 

retroflexus 53 

A ngelica sp 71 

atropurpurea 71 

Apache Plume 46 

Apple 98,114 

Apricot 107,114,116 

Arenaria confusa 53 

Artemisia sp 44,106 

filifolia 44,45,54 

forwoodii 53 

frigida 54 

tridentata 45 

Asclepias sp 54 

Asparagus 11,113 

Aspen 10,42 

Aster, Golden 54 

Atriplexsp 75 

canesccns 29,54,89 

Avens 55 

Ball Cactus 62 

Balsam Fir 38 

Banana 11,115 

Barley 110 

Beans 10,94,99,100,107,110 

Beans, Lima 110 

Beard-tongue 58 

Bedstraw 10,55 

Bee Plant, Rocky Mountain 58 

Beet 112 

Beet, Sugar 112 

Betulafontinalis 39 

Bigeloviabigelovii 45 

graveolens 45 

Birch, Streamside 39 

Blackberry 116 

Black-eyed Susan 60 

Blazing Star 57 

Bluebell 54 

Bois d'arc 68 

Bouteloua curtipendula 64 

gracilis 65 



Page 

Box-elder 38 

Brittle Fern 67 

Bur, Sand 63 

Cabbage 11, 85, 107, 112 

Cactus, Ball 62 

Cactus, Cane 62 

Cactus, Chandelier 10, 62 

Cactus, Prickly Tear 62 

Cactus, Round-leaved 62 

Ca mpanula pet iolata 54 

Cane 11,66,110 

Cane Cactus 62 

Cane, Sugar 110 

Car ex sp 66 

Carrot 107,112 

Castillcjalinaricefolia 54 

Cattail 10,66 

Cauliflower 112 

Cedar 39 

Celery 11,112 

Ccltis reticulata 39 

Cenchrus carolinianus 63 

Ccrcocarpus montanus 45 

parvifolius 72 

Chandelier Cactus 10,62 

Cherry 11,115 

Cherry, Ground 59 

Chick-peas 107 

Chico 11 

Chhe 11, 9S 

Chile, Mexican 107 

Chokecherry 10,47 

Chrysopsis hirsutissima 54 

Chrysothamnus bigclovii 45, 60 

graveolens 45,49 

Cicuta occidental is 54 

Clammy Weed 59 

Clematis 63 

Clematis ligusticifolia 63 

Cloak Fern 67 

Clover, Prairie 58 

cocklebur 49 

Coconut 11,117 

Coffee 11,117 

Coleosanthus umbcllatus 54 

Colorado Rubber Plant 56 

Common Dandelion 61 

Common Mallow 61 

CORN 10,59,78-94,98 

See Maize. 

Corn Smut 66,67 

Cotton 10, 59, 102-103 

Cottonwood, Mountain 42 

Cottonwood, Narrow-leaf 42 

Cottonwood, Rydberg's 42 

Cottonwood, Valley 10, 42 



121 



122 



INDEX OF BOTANICAL NAMES 



Page 

Cranesbill 55 

Creosote Bush 40 

Cress 11 

Crowfoot 56 

Cucumber 107,113 

Cucurbita dagcnaria 63 

foztidissima 63,100 

Currant 48,115 

Cuscuta 54 

Cyperus 49 

Dandelion, Common 61 

Date 115 

Datura 55 

Datura meteloidcs 17,55 

stramonium... 55 

Dodder 54 

Dogwood 49 

Douglas Spruce 10, 42-43 

Dropseed Grass 49 

Dryoptcris filix-mas 67 

Earth Star 67 

Edicinia amcricana 46 

Eggplant 112 

Elymus canadensis 64 

Engelmann Spruce . 41 

Ephedra antisyphilitica 46 

Berland 46 

Equisetum arvense 68 

Eriogonum annuum 55 

diver gens 55 

Euchlozna luxurians 79 

mexicana 79 

Evergreen Oak 44 

Fallugia 11 

FaJlugia paradoxa 46 

False Solomon's Seal 70 

Fern, Brittle 67 

Fern, Cloak 67 

Fern, Shield 67 

Fig 11,115 

Filixfragilis 67 

Fir, Balsam 38 

Fir, Joint 46 

Fir, White 38 

Four-o'clock 10,60 

Fragaria ovalis 55 

Frumentum indicum cceruleum 79 

luteum 79 

rubrum 79 

Fungus 10 

Galium 10 

Galium sp 55 

triflorum 55 

Garden Rose 48 

Garlic 107 

Geaster sp 67 

Geranium 55 

Geranium at ropur pur cum 55 

Geum strictum 55 

Gilia grteneana 55 

longi flora 55 

Gilia, Red 55 

Gilia, White 55 



Page 

Globe Mallow 10,60 

Golden Aster 54 

Goldenrod 49 

Gooseberry 4S, 116 

Gossypium Hopi Lewton 102 

Gourd 19,101 

Gourd, Wild 63 

Grama Grass 65 

Grape 115 

Grass 10 

Grass, Dropseed 49 

Grass, Grama 65 

Grass, Hair 64 

Grass, Mesquite 64 

Grass, Panic 64 

Grass, Rush 64 

Grass, Sage 64 

Green Sage 53 

Ground Cherry 59 

Ground Tomato 59 

Guaco 10,58 

Gutierrezia longifolia 56, 106 

tenuis 49 

Hackberry 39 

Hair Grass 64 

Halerpestes cymbalaria 56 

Heliantkus annuus Z6 

Hemlock, Water 54 

Hop 63 

Hop Trefoil 47 

Horsemint 57 

Horsetail 68 

Hubbard Squash 100 

Hurnulus lupulus neomexicanus 63 

Hymenoxys floribunda 56 

Hypopitys latisqdama 56 

Indian Paint-brush 54 

Ionoxalis violacea 56 

Joint Fir ' 46 

Juniper, One-seeded 10,39-40 

Juniperus monosperma 8, 39, 41 

scopulorum 41 

Kallstroemia brachystylis 56 

Laciniaria punctata 57 

Lappula floribunda 57 

Larrea glutinosa 40 

Lemon 11,115 

Lentils 107 

Leptasea austromontana 60 

Lettuce 11,107,113 

Lichen sp 68 

Lima Bean 310 

Locust 48 

Loganberry ] 16 

LuriNE 57 

Lupinus aduncus 57 

Lycium pallidum 47 

Lycurus phleoides 64 

Jlfaclura aurantiaca 68 

Mahogany, Mountain 10,45 

Maize 107 

See Corn. 

Mallow 11 

Mallow, Common 61 



INDEX OF BOTANICAL NAMES 



123 



Page 

Mallow, Globe 10,60 

Mallow sp TO 

Mamillaria sp 62 

Martynias^ 57 

Meadow Rue 61 

Melons 11,98,107 

Mesquite Grass 64 

Mexican Chile — 107 

Mildew 67 

Milkweed 54 

Mint 99 

Mistletoe 47 

Mold... 67 

Monarda menthsefolia 57 

Mosses ■-- 68 

Mountain Cottonwood 42 

Mountain Mahogany 10, 45 

Muhlenbergia trifida 64 

Mulberry 11,107,116 

Mushroom 11,66,113 

Muskmelon 19,111,114 

Mustard 11,113 

Mustard, Tansy 60 

Narrow-leaf Cottonwood 42 

Negundo interius 38, 49 

Nicotiana attenuata 103 

Torr 105 

trigonophylla Duval 105 

Notholsenafendleri 67 

Nut Pine 41 

Nuts 107,116 

Nuttallia multiflora 57 

Oak , — .. 10 

Oak, Evergreen 44 

Oak, Utah 44 

Oats 110 

Olive 115 

One-seeded Juniper 10,39 

Onion 10,107,110 

Onion, Wild 53, 110 

Opuntia 10,62 

Ovuntia arborescens 62 



Page 

Phacelia corrugata 59 

Phaseolus vulgaris 100 

Phoradendron juniperinum 47 

Phragmites 10 

Phragmites phragmites C6 

Physalis neomexicana 59 

Picea engelmanni 41 

Pigweed 53 

Pine, Nut 41 

Pine, Pinon 10,41 

Pine, Rock 10,41 

Pine, Western Yellow 41 

Pine, White 41 

Pines ap 56 

Pinon Nut 316 

Pinon Pine 10.41 

Pinus brachyptera S, 41 

edulis '. 41 

ftexilis 41 

Plum 107,114,116 

Polanisia trachysperma 59 

Populus acuminata 42 

aagustifolia 42 

tremuloides 42 

wislizeni 8,42,49 

Portulaca oleracea 59, 72 

retusa 60 

Potato 73,113 

Prairie Clover 58 

Prickly Pear Cactus 62 

Prosopis glandulosa 6S 

Pseudotsuga mucronata 42 

Ptelea crenulata 47 

tomentosa 47 

Ptiloria sp 60 

Puffball 66 

Pumpkin 10, 19, 59, 100 

Purslane. .' 59 

Quamoclidion multiflorum 60 

Quercus undulata 44 

utahensis 44 

Quince 115 



. 10,45 
107, 113 
10 

. 116 

55 
66 

. 113 
47 
48 

48 
48 

.. 10,41 

58 

.. 10,45 
48 
10 
48 
48 
62 
11 
56 

. 117 
60 
61 



camanchica 62 

filipendula 62 

Orache 75 

Orange.... 11,115 

Oreocarya multicaulis 58 

Osage Orange 68 

Pachistima myr smites 47 

Padus melanocarpa 47 

Painted Cup 54 

Panic Grass 64 

Panicum barbipulvinatum 64 

Parryella filifolia 89 

Parsley 112 

Parsnip 112 

Peach 98,107,114,116 

Peanut 11,117 

Pear 11,115 

Peas 107,110 

Penstemon torreyi 58 

Pentalostemum candidus 58 

oligophyllum 58 

Pepper 11,111 

Peritoma serrulatum 58, 59, 60, 76 



Rabbit-brush , 

Radish 

Ragweed 

Raspberry 

Red Gilia 

Reed 

Rhubarb 

Rhus cismontana 

Ribes sp 

inebrians 

Robinia neomexicana 

Rock Pine. 

Rocky Mountain Bee Plant 

Rocky Mountain Sage 

Rosa sp 

Rose 

Rose, Garden 

Rose, Wild 

Round-leaved Cactus 

Rubber 

Rubber Plant, Colorado 

Rubber Tree 

Rudbeckia flava 

Rue. Meadow 



124 



INDEX OF BOTANICAL NAMES 



Page 

Rush Grass 64 

Rush, Scouring 68 

Rydberg's Cottonwood 42 

Rye, Wild 64 

Sage, Green 53 

Sage, Rocky Mountain : 10,45 

Sage, Silver 44,45 

Sagebrush 45 

Sage Grass 64 

Salixsp 48,49 

argophylla 49 

cor data 49 

humilis 49 

irrorata 49 

Salt Bush 54 

Sand Bur 63 

Sandwort 53 

Schizachyrium scoparium 64 

Schmaltzia bakcri 49 

Scouring Rush 68 

Sedge . 49,66 

Senecio macdougalii 60 

Sericofheca dumosa 49 

Shield Fern 67 

Silver Sage 44,45 

Skunk-bush 10,49 

Sneezeweed, Yarrow 53 

Solanum jamesii 73 

Solidago .49 

Solomon's Seal, False 70 

Sophia sp 60 

Spanish Bayonet. 49 

Spanish Wheat 107 

8 'phxralcea lobata 60 

Spinach 113 

Spiny Squash 100 

Sporobolus 49 

Spruce, Douglas 10,42-43 

Spruce, Engelmann 41 

Squash 10, 19, 94, 100, 107 

Squash, Hubbard 1C0 

Squash. Spiny 100 

Squash, Wild 100 

Stanley ella icrightii 61 

Stick-seed 57 

Strawberry 55,116 

Streamside Birch 39 

Sugar Beet 112 

Sugar Cane i 110 

Sumac 47 

Sumac, Three-leaved 49 

Sunflower 11,56 

Tansy Mustard 60 

Taraxacum taraxacum -. 61 



Page 



Tea 




11, 117 


Teamster's Tea 




46 


Texas Timothy 




64 


Thalictrum fendleri 




61 


Thelesperma gracile 




61 


trifidum 




61 


Three-leaved Sumac 




49 


Timothy. Texas 




M 


Toadstool fifi 


Tobacco 


10 


103-107 






47 


Tomato 




11, 113 


Tomato, Ground 




59 


Townscndia eximia 




55 


Trefoil, Bop 




47 


Turnip 




112 


Ti/plta latifolia 




66 


Ustilaqo maidis 




67 


Utah Oak 




44 


T aqnera ample xicaulis 




70 






. . 10, 42 






. . 70, 73 


Viola canadensis 




61 






61 


Violet Wood-sorrel 




56 


Walnut 




116 


Water-cress 




112 










3,99,107 


, 111-112 


Wax Flower 




46 


Western Yellow Pine 




41 


Wheat 


79,98 


, 107-110 


Wheat, Spanish 




107 


White Fir 




38 


White Gilia 




55 


White Pine 




41 


Wild Gourd 




63 


Wild Onion 




53, 110 


Wild Rose 




48 






64 


Wild Squash 




100 






10,48,49 


Wood-sorrel, Violet 




56 


Xanthium commune 




49 


Yarrow Sneezeweed 




53 


Yellow Pine, Western 




41 






10 






49 


Yucca baccata 


10,15, 


22,49-52 



glauca 52 

Zca mays 78 



Sec Corn. 



O 



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